Removing uncertainties

Just recently, one of the country’s largest mining companies, Philex Mining Corp. expressed optimism the government would lift the ban on open pit mining this quarter, even as the firm continues to scout for potential investors for its $2-billion Silangan copper and gold project.

According to Silangan Mindanao Mining Co. chief operating officer Mike Toledo, once the ban is lifted, they expect the fasttracking of the entry of possible investors for Philex’ next big prospective mine in Surigao del Norte, and that immediately, they would proceed with pre-development works.

The Silangan project, which may start production by late next year or early 2020, will conduct open pit mining for the first 10 years, to be followed by underground mining. It is among the biggest prospective open-pit mines in the country.

Toledo said while they are doing underground, the company can already do rehabilitation of the open pit.

Philex’ other project, the Padcal copper-gold mine in Benguet, is expected to end by December 2022.

According to earlier news reports, Philex has invested over P13 billion for the initial exploration and related works on the Silangan site as of end 2014. This is on top of the estimated project cost of $1.2 billion.

Open-pit mining remains to be an internationally accepted method for mining and is in accordance with the Mining Act of the Philippines. Open-pit is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth. Open pit mining is used when deposits of commercially useful ore or rocks are found near the surface. Underground mining, on the other hand, require tunneling into the earth when the minerals are deep below the surface when the overburden is thick or the mineral occurs as veins in hard rock.

In April of last year, then environment secretary Gina Lopez ordered a ban on all prospective open mines in the country.

Last year, it was reported that the inter-agency Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC) had recommended the lifting of the open pit ban, provided that mining laws, rules and regulations are complied with.

Among the biggest prospective open pit mines are the Silangan mine and the $5.9-billion Tampakan project in South Cotabato, said to be the country’s biggest foreign investment and believed to be one of the largest gold prospects in the world.

Chamber of Mines of the Philippines executive director Ronald Recidoro then said that this would improve the investment climate of mining in the Philippines and lift the uncertainties for key projects.

Recidoro said that the MICC recommendation to the DENR underwent a thorough review process and is grounded on the evidence, science and technology, and facts.

Cimatu has said that he would defer to the opinion of the experts, but the final decision would be with President Duterte.

The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) earlier moved to formally and officially adopt Canada’s sustainable mining model. The adoption of Toward Sustainable Mining (TSM), a mining-sustainability standard developed by the Mining Association of Canada (MAC), is in response to President Duterte’s call to the industry to be more responsible in doing business.

According to COMP chairman Gerry Brimon, there is so much that minerals development, done responsibly, could contribute to the economy of a nation and to the welfare of mining communities, as shown by numerous examples in the Philippines. The adoption of TSM by members of the Chamber of Mines is intended to institutionalize practices that secure these contributions for the long term, he added.

The adoption is contained in a Mutual Cooperation and Licensing Agreement with the MAC for the implementation of the TSM initiative. A second agreement, to be signed by all existing operating mines in the country, is The Baguio Declaration, or a commitment to responsible minerals development in the Philippines.

MAC president and CEO Pierre Gratton said that their made-in-Canada program is now in five countries on five continents. The national mining associations of Finland (FinnMin), Argentina (Cámara Argentina de Empresarios Mineros) and Botswana (Botswana Chamber of Mines) are currently implementing TSM.

TSM requires mining companies to annually assess their facilities’ performance in key areas, including tailings management, community outreach, safety and health, biodiversity conservation, crisis management, energy use and greenhouse-gas emissions management. The results are freely available to the public and are externally verified every three years to ensure that what has been reported is accurate.

What is the lesson to be derived from all this? Open pit mining is still accepted worldwide and can be safe and sound, if done responsibly by mining companies who are willing to account for their practices not only to their shareholders, but also to the public.

The country and our government need these investments and it cannot continue to increase taxes on goods and services, or remove business incentives, just to raise funds.

Mining disasters and environmentally disastrous mining projects in this country have been associated with small-scale mining, and even big companies who extract our natural resources and leave the area wasted once they are done. True that there are some companies whose projects have encountered operational accidents, but they do spend for the environmental clean-up and invest in trying to find ways to avoid a repeat of the incident.

According to one news report, the Philippines is the fifth most mineral-rich country in the world for gold, nickel, copper, and chromite, is home to the largest copper-gold deposit in the world, and has an estimated $840 billion worth of untapped mineral wealth as of 2012.

Citing data from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, the report noted that about 30 million hectares in the Philippines is deemed as possible areas for metallic minerals, while around million hectares is identified as having high mineral potential. The country’s metal deposit is estimated at 21.5 billion metric tons and non- metallic minerals are at 19.3 billion metric tons, as of 2012, it added. According to MGB, there are around 236,000 workers in the industry as of 2016.

Imagine how much richer our country and our people would be if these resources are safely and responsibly mined.

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