Mining industry eyes adoption of Canadian practices

MANILA, Philippines — As it reorganizes its ranks, the country’s mining industry is now gearing toward the adaption of Canadian practices, which have been globally recognized for its standards, as well as the creation of an oversight committee to carry out investigations among its members.

 

Following the election of new officials and members of the Board of Trustees, the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) said it is starting to transform its members through initiatives that it is looking to implement among the large-scale mining firms. 

 

One is the adaption of the Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM), developed by the Mining Association of Canada, which is a program and set of protocols to drive performance and ensure that key mining risks are managed responsibly.

 

“In Canada, a large mining country, you need to subscribe to the TSM before you enter the group. It requires companies to annually asses their operations and  performance annually in key areas like management, indigenous and community outreach, safety and health, crisis management, and biodiversity conservation,” COMP chairman and Nickel Asia Corp. president Gerard Brimo said in a briefing Monday.

 

Established in 2004, TSM aims to enable mining companies to meet society’s needs for minerals, metals and energy products in the most socially, economically and environmentally responsible way.

 

President Rodrigo Duterte has been urging mining firms to adopt the highest possible international standards  to ensure better economic contribution and the protection of the environment.

 

“We are pushing our members to be more transparent, we will want them to adapt to international standards as mandated by President Duterte,” COMP executive director Ronald Recidoro said. 

 

“We will increase our engagement and partnership with the other countries to gain more insight on their mining policies and translate that to the Philippine scenario,” he added. 

 

While no mining firm has adopted the Canadian practice yet, COMP members are now starting to assess their operations and plan toward the TSM standard.

 

TSM has been adopted in other mineral-rich countries like Finland, Nigeria, and Australia among others.

 

Philex Mining Corp., for its part, said it is now doing some gap analysis in its own operations. 

 

“We want to raise the bar. We are working on it and we are doing some gap analysis that we have to work out. We need the Chamber because under the guidelines, negotiations should be between the Mining Association of Canada and the Chamber of Mines,” Philex president and CEO and Board of Trustee member Eulalio Austin Jr. said.

The chamber has also created an oversight committee, headed by Brimo, to carry out investigations as directed by the Board of Trustees should there be any incident involving any of the members. 

 

“We are heading now towards self-policing. We sometimes get accused of things that do not really happen. We have not done it before and we believe it is time to move towards something like this,” Brimo said.

 

The committee will be getting third-party experts to conduct investigations should a member company be involved in any incident or violations. It will also be in coordination with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau. 

 

Furthermore, the industry assured stakeholders that the Chamber will be “reinvigorated and armed with a fresh mandate.” 

 

“We will enhance our social development and management program (SDMP) not just to encompass social development but to also address climate change resiliency,” Recidoro said. 

 

“We plan to improve our information and educational campaigns and reach out to the Congress, local chief executives, and even to the judiciary to improve their understanding on mining operations and dispel misconceptions about the industry,” he added.

While the chamber has elected its new set of officers, the position of the president remains vacant. 

 

The position was previously held by Benjamin Philip Romualdez for 13 years, who opted for early retirement last month due to his health. Romualdez was the one who called for the reorganization of the chamber. 

 

Brimo said the group plans to get someone outside of the chamber to serve as the new president but no names have been surfacing yet.

 

“Our current thinking is to possibly get someone that is not necessarily related to the members. someone who has technical background perhaps, someone from the academe,” Brimo said. 

 

“We haven’t identified anyone yet, but that is something currently being discussed. Someone who knows the industry but is not connected to anyone. The person should not be beholden to any company,” he added. 

 

Meanwhile, elected vice chairpersons were Gilberto Teodoro Jr. of Sagittarius Mines and Jose Leviste Jr. of Oceana Gold Philippines.

 

Other COMP officers are Nelia Halcon as executive vice president, Gaspar Andres as corporate secretary and Ramon Diokno as treasurer.

 

The Chamber of Mines has 25 regular members and 15 associate members from the mining industry.