New mining operators eye Ilocos Norte town

First posted 11:30pm (Mla time) July 05, 2006
By Cristina Arzadon
Inquirer

http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=8330

Editor's Note: Published on Page A14 of the July 6, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

LAOAG CITY—New mining operators are working on their application to extract minerals in the feldspar-rich town of Burgos, Ilocos Norte, town officials said.

Burgos Councilor Joejie Jimenez said two operators have filed their applications with the mayor’s office to extract minerals in the villages of Agaga and Tanap, where feldspar and silica are abundant.

Feldspar is a mineral used in the manufacture of porcelain and glass while silica is used in the manufacture of cement, bricks, glass and other construction materials.

The application papers are pending at the mayor’s office due to the absence of requirements needed in the issuance of a permit to operate, Jimenez said.

“The Burgos council has not yet issued its concurrence [to the application] because the operators failed to submit certifications that the communities [where the mining site will be put up] were in favor of the mining operation,” he said.

Mayor Benjamin Campañano earlier called for the cancellation of a mining permit issued to the Northern Mining Integrated Inc. due to massive siltation that the company caused in a creek in the town and a river in the nearby town of Bangui.

The company, owned by the late Currimao Mayor Ernesto Go, started mining the area in the 1980s.

In 1999, the regional Mines and Geosciences Bureau ordered NMII to suspend its operations due to massive siltation in the Baruyen River in Bangui.

The Baruyen River is a natural reservoir, which supplies water to the Dangdangla Dam, a major source of irrigation water in Bangui.

Officials of Bangui had said siltation from the Baruyen River had reached the dam and reduced its capacity to store water.

The NMII was also ordered to dredge the Baruyen River, including its tributary, the Anangge Creek in Burgos. The creek used to be a major source of irrigation water and food for residents.
Onofre Menor, an NMII official, said dredging of the Anangge Creek and the upper portion of the Potrero River has not been completed.

“We have finished dredging the upper section [of the creek], while our check dams have been rehabilitated,” Menor told members of the provincial environmental summit steering committee last week.