Stakeholders to collaborate for biggest mine in Phl

MANILA, Philippines - More than 2,000 direct stakeholders attended last Wednesday a public consultation for the Tampakan copper-gold project in Kiblawan, Davao del Sur, most of them saying that this has to be “a collaboration” between all parties involved for this project to work.

In her opening message, Kiblawan Mayor Marivic Diamante noted that although the mineral deposit is in the neighboring Tampakan municipality of South Cotabato, Kiblawan will host the mine’s major facilities such as a fresh water dam, a tailings storage facility, a concentrator, and an employees’ village.

Diamante said they are very excited since the biggest infrastructure to be constructed in the history of the country will be put up in their municipality. She said this will mean employment, livelihood, and even local tourism opportunities for their town.

“Let us work together towards progress,” Diamante said.

Earlier, Diamante was quoted as calling on all sectors to work together to ensure that this project is done in a responsible manner. This was after the environmental impact assessment (EIA) was presented to the local government of Kiblawan.

“We are very happy with how the environmental impact assessment for the Tampakan mine was conducted with credible experts taking the lead in the technical studies,” she said.

Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI), government contractor for the Tampakan project earlier announced that it will continue to consult the stakeholders as the company presents its plan on how to manage and mitigate the environmental impact of the project.

SMI Corporate Communications Manager John Arnaldo said that the company looks forward to receiving further feedback from all key stakeholders.