16 mining firms warn of rise in illegal work

SIXTEEN mining firms looking to operate in Mindanao raised concerns that illegal small-scale miners will fill in the void created by the open-pit mining ban imposed by the provincial government. The ban is contained in the province’s new Environment Code, which took effect on Monday.

“Our fear is that illegal small scale mining activities will get to South Cotabato’s deposits due to the ban.

Recent reports show that increasing levels of mercury in rivers and water systems can be traced to rampant illegal small scale mining activities in the province,” the 16 companies said in a statement issued Wednesday.

South Cotabato’s Environment Code took effect on October 16, or 15 days after its third and final publication in a provincial newspaper.

Under Section 22c of the Code, all forms of mining within 1 kilometer of any public or private works or structures are now banned, while quarrying is also banned within one kilometer from existing bridges.

South Cotabato’s quarrying industry will also be hit hard by Section 22c of the Environment Code.

In September alone, the average production of sand, gravel and limestone quarry operators in South Cotabato stood at about 68,975 cubic metric tons.

The signatories to the statement are Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI), San Miguel Corp. (SMC), TMC-Tribal Mining Corp., Blucor Mineral Corp., Galactica Mining & Development Corp., Evercrest Cement and Mining Corp., South Davao Development Co. Inc., Hillcrest Inc., Hirich Mining and Development Corp., Phil. Great Mineral Corp., All-Acacia Resources Inc., Manila Heavy Equipment Corp., Mettalica Mineral Resources Inc., Mucho Dinero Mineral Mining Inc., SouthCot Mining Corp., and Providence Mining Development Corp.

“Private works and structures may include houses, and if this is the case, there will be no mining in South Cotabato in whatever form, whether open-pit or underground,” said Constancio Paye, director of Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Region XII.

Records from the mining tenements profile of MGB Region XII show that the applications from these companies comprise the future of South Cotabato’s mining industry, with the province acknowledged as rich in gold, copper, silver, coal, and other minerals deposits, Paye said.

The ban on open-pit mining in South Cotabato has stalled the $5.9-billion Tampakan copper-gold prospect, which SMI operates in behalf of Xstrata Plc and Indophil Resources NL.

Tampakan is considered Southeast Asia’s largest undeveloped copper-gold prospect. SMC recently bought a minority stake in Indophil, and reserved the option to take a controlling stake of the Australian firm or of its interest in Tampakan.

SMI had said it would continue preparations for the project, and expects to resolve the situation with local officials and the national government.

Tampakan is scheduled to start production in 2016. It is estimated to contain 13.5 million tons of copper and 15.8 million ounces of gold.

The mining firms are hoping that the new provincial government, led by Gov. Arthur Pinggoy, will make good its promise to review its Environment Code.

Pinggoy, who took office three months ago, said a number of resolutions were expected to be filed to challenge the Code passed by provincial lawmakers and approved in June by his predecessor, Daisy Avance-Fuentes. –JAMES KONSTANTIN GALVEZ REPORTER, Manila Times