Silica sand extraction from dry land is not nearly as destructive as dredging it from the waterways.
Not sure of the full cost of a project like this tho' - especially if it is on the scale this report ^^ seems to indicate.

Scraping away vast acreages of productive and environmentally important riperian land is also pretty catastrophic.
There is a very high likelihood that they will be operating in "acid sulphate soil" areas. (look it up, disturbing these soils releases a non-stop flow of sulphuric acid into the waterways). Silica sand and acid soils go together.
The sand is often washed before transporting - resulting in large volumes of good water taken from the locale and turned toxic before returning it.
Mineral sand deposits like this also go together with heavy metals, radioactive minerals and/or highly damaging organic compounds.
This operation will certainly kill some farming and lots of fishing.

Processing this pure white silica sand into high quality glass, rather than exporting it for peanuts would add to the Net-benefit column - but that looks like a very clear transparent pane of pure black bullshit to me. Who knows??
The usual story probably. Land grab, mercilessly exploit on the cheap, leave totally barren and useless and forever poisoning the neighbourhood.

"Best" outcome is maybe that it is just a straight out broad-acre land grab - with little expansion of this mining actually envisioned.
lets see..

Mining the Mekong: Land and livelihoods lost to Cambodia’s thirst for sand
by Gerald Flynn, Vutha Srey on 29 August 2022
Sand mining by politically connected companies has been blamed for the collapse of riverbanks along the Mekong and Bassac rivers in Cambodia.
Affected residents say they’ve lost their homes and their livelihoods, based on fishing and tourism, as a result of the mining, but see no positive changes or hope for justice.
The government, however, denies that the dredging is responsible for the erosion, with a senior official saying that it actually helps stabilize the riverbanks — a claim that scientists say is “a myth.”
This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network where Gerald Flynn is a fellow.

ROKA KOANG, Cambodia — Some 45 kilometers, or 28 miles, up the Mekong River from Phnom Penh, Voi Thy sat and watched as 12 boats pumped sand from the riverbed. Another 11 boats, weighed low by their quarry of freshly mined sand, were making the glacial journey past her home in Roka Koang commune, Kandal province, to the capital.

In late June, 43-year-old Thy was slicing up bottle gourds outside her house, propped up by makeshift wooden stilts that descended down into the collapsed banks of the Mekong.

Each year, she said, the riverbank erosion gets worse. Two large collapses during Cambodia’s rainy season in May and June 2021 saw Thy move her house further from the river. But a more recent collapse in November 2021 forced her to remove a part of her house that was left hanging precariously over the water’s edge.

“I was so scared we’d lose it all, it’s been disappearing, piece by piece, since the sand mining began,” Thy said.

“Another 20 families left after the big collapse in November [2021]. Those who stay do because they have no other option,” she said.
Full article: https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/minin ... -for-sand/

12minutes
16,563 views 20 Jan 2023
Lost Lands: Mining the Mekong


Cambodia’s appetite for sand has exploded as construction continues to fuel economic growth in the capital Phnom Penh. But as the thirst for sand grows, so does the uncertainty over the future of the river. Two families who rely on the river for a living share their stories of how sand dredging is causing pain and concerns for the future.
https://scmp/subscribe-youtube

Residents of Cambodia's waterfront communities said their waters used to be 'decorated by lotus and lotus stem.' Now they're covered in 'gravel and sand' as sand mining threatens their homes.
Isaiah Reynolds, Katie Nixdorf, Amanda Choy, and Andy Ball
Feb 14, 2023, 2:50 PM
Sand mining
Andy Ball

In Cambodia, sand mining has become a popular industry to support concrete production.
The influx of sand is threatening the homes of thousands who live along the country's water ways.
The collateral damage of overproduction leaves increased erosion and potential for dangerous flooding.

"Before the entire lake was decorated by lotus and lotus stem. Now, it's decorated by gravel and sand," said Prak Sophea, one of the many residents in Cambodia who are slowly watching their beloved riverfronts and homes become overrun by growing swaths of sand.

Large barges are dredging up tons of sand from the river to supply concrete for developing Southeast Asian cities. The sand is exported to places like Singapore, where nearly 50 square miles of land have been added on waterfronts, and Phnom Penh, the capital
In Phnom Penh, the government is using the sand to fill in lakes and rivers in order to create land for developing real estate and shopping malls.
Full text and photos: https://www.insider.com/sand-mining-cam ... ies-2023-2

around koh ta kiev there are 3 huge sanddredging boats changing their spot almost daily.
dead fish washes to the shore for weeks now every day. right now mostly on last point beach. i collected 3kg dead fish one morning including some species from deeper depth

sad

Lost Lands: Andy Ball photographs the devastating impact of sand mining in Cambodia
Jordan Potter
Thu 13th Apr 2023 14.00 BST
https://www.rgs.org/about/our-collectio ... ost-lands/
[excerpt]
For this week’s collection, I spoke to Andy Ball, a British photographer and videographer currently stationed in Cambodia, where he looks to use his lens to explore the country’s vibrant culture amid meteoric industrial development. Today, we’re excited to introduce his ‘Lost Lands’ collection, which highlights the negative impacts of Cambodia’s burgeoning sand mining activity.

“Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh has undergone rapid development over the last decade. As part of this, many of Phnom Penh’s surrounding lakes and wetlands are in the process of being filled in or already have for development projects using sand pumped from the Mekong River,” Ball recently told me of the project’s focus. “It’s a controversial topic in Cambodia that’s created a lot of violent conflict between the communities that rely on these lakes and wetlands, the developers and the government.”

“When I arrived in 2019, I took an interest in starting to document what was happening at Beoung Tompun, Phnom Penh’s largest lake, that’s being filled in for a satellite city,” Ball continued. “Around 1,000 households rely on the lake for housing, farming, and fishing. Over the last few years, many of these communities have been evicted or inevitably will be in the future. What’s happening on the lake is a microcosm for Cambodia’s modern-day land conflicts, as communities all over the country grapple with displacement for various development projects and concessions. I think that’s what makes the filling in of Phnom Penh’s lakes and wetlands so interesting to document”.
Full article and some great photos here: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/andy-ball- ... -cambodia/

New Sand Mining License Issued in Stung Treng
7 July 2023 6:42 PM
Runn Sreydeth

The Ministry of Mines and Energy issued a new sand mining license on March 17 to the Samreth Bunthoeun Enterprise on the Sekong river in Stung Treng province, according to a ministry Facebook post.

The mining company, which registered in October last year is a sole proprietorship owned by Samreth Bunthoeun, is based in Sre Por village in Srah Russei commune.

“The pumped sand only supplies the Vattanac Ready-Mixed Concrete Company,” Bunthoeun said. “Our pumping distance is 200 meters from the riverbank, which ensures safety, reduces environmental impact and complies with the time and policy of the Ministry of Mines and Energy.”

A middle-aged resident who has lived in Sre Por village, near the site of the new sand mining license, said he has watched the three dredgers operate and has concerns about their impact.

“Nowadays along the river in my community​ it really disturbs the locals and so does the noise from their pumping,” he said. “Often, when the ferry engine is repaired we see the engine leaking into the river, which affects the environment and disturbs tourists in this area.”

The resident claimed there had been sand-mining along that stretch of the river for many years and several bank collapses in past years.

“Every year there are a few landslides in some places around this area, and during the dry months I see the river getting deeper and deeper,” he said. “I urge the authorities and relevant ministries to monitor and guide the business people to respect the law and reduce the disturbance to the residents of this area.”

Srah Russei commune chief Den Phearum denied there has been any negative side effects of sand mining in the area or the surrounding community.

“They are pumping according to the correct analysis, pumping away from the river bank and following the role of the Ministry Mines, and I do not think there is any noise to the villagers and there is no bank collapse as mentioned,” Phearum said.

Buntheoun said there may be other sand mining companies operating illegally in the area.

There is one other sand-mining company licensed in Stung Treng, according to Kong Sitha, deputy director general of the General Department of Mineral Resources.

Environmental outlet Mongabay reported there were 49 legally registered sand mining companies operating as of August 2022. Ung Dipola, Director General, General Department of Mineral Resources could not be reached for comment.
https://cambojanews.com/new-sand-mining ... ung-treng/

See also: Fleets of Sand Barges Cross Border as Exports Quietly Restarted
https://vodenglish.news/fleets-of-sand- ... restarted/

UPDATE: Andy Ball's film "Lost Lands" was awarded second prize in the Yale Environment 360 Film Contest 2023.

E360 Film Contest
On the Mekong, Sand Mining Threatens the River and a Way of Life

In “Lost Lands” — Second-Place Winner of the Yale Environment 360 Film Contest — Cambodia-based filmmaker Andy Ball focuses on two families who describe how unchecked mining of river sand for urban development has devastated their fisheries and food-producing wetlands.

August 16, 2023

https://e360.yale.edu/features/2023-fil ... bodia-sand

‘Alarming’ scale of marine sand dredging laid bare by new data platform
UN-developed Marine Sand Watch estimates 6bn tonnes dug up a year, well beyond rate at which it is replenished
Karen McVeigh
Last modified on Wed 6 Sep 2023 02.31 BST

One million lorries of sand a day are being extracted from the world’s oceans, posing a “significant” threat to marine life and coastal communities facing rising sea levels and storms, according to the first-ever global data platform to monitor the industry.

The new data platform, developed by the UN Environment Programme (Unep), tracks and monitors dredging of sand in the marine environment by using the AIS (automatic identification systems) data from ships. Using data from 2012-19, Marine Sand Watch estimates the dredging industry is digging up 6bn tonnes of marine sand a year, a scale described as “alarming”. The rate of extraction is growing globally, Unep said, and is approaching the natural rate of replenishment of 10bn to 16bn tonnes of sand flowing into the sea from rivers and needed to maintain coastal structure and ecosystems.

The platform has identified “hotspots” including the North Sea, south-east Asia and the east coast of the United States as areas of concern. In many places where extraction is more intense, including parts of Asia, marine sand is being extracted well beyond the rate at which it is being replenished from rivers.

“The scale of environmental impacts of shallow sea mining activities and dredging is alarming, including biodiversity, water turbidity, and noise impacts on marine mammals,” said Pascal Peduzzi, the director of GRID-Geneva at Unep.

“This data signals the urgent need for better management of marine sand resources and to reduce the impacts of shallow sea mining,” he said. “Unep invites all stakeholders, member states and the dredging sector to consider sand as a strategic material, and to swiftly engage in talks on how to improve dredging standards around the world.”

Developed by GRID-Geneva, a centre for analytics within Unep, Marine Sand Watch has trained artificial intelligence to identify the movement of dredging vessels from its AIS data. It has data from 2012-19 from Global Fishing Watch, a company set up to track commercial fishing activities using AIS data from fishing vessels, but is working on more recent data.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... a-platform

This is a link to the first of a four-part series of articles on sand erosion in the Mekong delta, Vietnam. There are many similarities with Cambodia.
Environment - September 6, 2023 | 04:00 pm PT
Erosion puts Mekong Delta future in doubt
Tran Quang Vinh spent 15 years building his rice processing business in An Giang Province. Then one day in May this year riverine erosion came and took almost everything away.

Regular and more severe erosions have made life in the Mekong Delta uncertain, with businesses struggling to adapt and communities desperate to find new livelihoods.
https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/envir ... 49603.html