DENR suspends Hinatuan Mining

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has stopped  a unit of Nickel Asia Corp. from exporting nickel ore in its Manicani mine in Leyte for violation of safety standards.

An audit conducted by the government showed that Hinatuan Mining Corp. was taking too much nickel ore from its mine.

“The audit found out that the company was taking too much soil and is disturbing the ecology of the place. They are taking the soil out and it goes to China,” Environment Secretary Gina Lopez said on the sidelines of the recent Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX) forum.

“We are suspending the retrieving of the stockpiles to address the ecological balance,” she added.

Instead of shipping to China, Lopez said the company should instead use the nickel ore for mine restoration.

“I was worried because of Manicani. I sent an audit team to assess. It’s better that they return it.”

Lopez said based on the audit, around 400,000 metric tons (MT)  of nickel ore had already been transported to China and approximately 1.4 million MT have yet to be exported.

The Manicani mine is near a marine reserve.  Residents of the area have filed complaints against the mine.

In a statement, Nickel Asia said its subsidiary has not received any order from the DENR to cease the removal of the stockpiles.

However, the company concurred with Lopez’s position that removing the stockpiles was the right thing to do from an environmental perspective.

Nickel Asia president and CEO Gerard Brimo said the removal of such would do away “with any potential environmental impacts that such stockpiles might pose, while at the same time providing badly needed employment and tax revenues.”