Reyes reaffirms government commitment to revitalize mining

By Mary Ann Ll. Reyes
Publication Date: [Sunday, September 17, 2006]

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/show_content.asp?article=275641

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Angelo Reyes has reiterated the government’s commitment to revitalize mining in the country while ensuring the protection of the environment, as well as social equity in the sharing of the proceeds from mining activities.

Reyes made the remark at the opening of the Philippine Investment Conference which was attended by leaders of the local mining sector, including Philip Benjamin Romualdez, the president of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (CMP), Philex Mining Corp. president Walter Brown, and Martin Buckingham and Kim Freeman of Atlas Consolidated Mining, among others. The delegates to the conference also undertook field visits to mineral sites in Baguio City, Davao City and Cebu.

The foreign delegates include Tanzanian Deputy Minister of Energy, Mines and Water Lawrence Kego Masha; Mining Minister Dramane Malga of Mali; Mark Tyler of South African, representing Nedbank Finance; Australian Terry Burgess of the Anglo American Base Metals; Edmond Ainscough of Golds Fields Australasia; Alberto Migiliucci of Standard Bank Plc.; Steven Clark Wood of the US, for CIMB-Standard Asset Adviser; Edward Nealon of Sylvannia Resources; and Ian Harabottle of Tanzanite One Ltd.

Six months ago, Reyes went to Cape Town, South Africa to entice foreign investors to "take a good hard look" at the investment potentials of the Philippines’ estimated $1 trillion worth of largely untapped mineral resources.

But Reyes pointed out at the recent 10th Indaba Mining Conference that the Philippines would only welcome mining investments whose proponents, both local and foreign, would strictly follow the country’s mining laws and adopt best international mining practices.

The DENR chief invited the world’s 350 leading mining companies to consider investing in the Philippines, which has about nine million hectares of mineral-rich land, although he made it clear that the government intends to make sure that wealth generation from the mining sector would redound to the good of all the investors, the government, local communities and the general population.

On the vision of all Filipinos benefiting from the revitalization of the mining industry, Reyes said this can be done if the country’s metallic and non-metallic mineral resources can be used by downstream Philippine industries as raw materials for finished products, ideally for export.

"We, at the Chamber of Mines, support the Secretary’s policy of getting idle and non-performing mining properties to be cleared up and freed up for other people who are more willing and more able to get the projects going," Romualdez said.

He was referring to the statement of Reyes that the government reserves the right to declare as abandoned those mining projects that have failed to take off the ground and to farm them out to others who can operate them in accordance with Philippine mining regulations that put a premium on environmental protection. Reyes said that this "use-it-or-lose-it policy" will insure that mining firms do not sit on feasible mining projects.

"In addition, we would like to thank the Secretary for his recommitment and streamlining of the government bureaucracy that is essential in moving mining applications and mining projects forth because this has been the latest stumbling block in the mining industry’s recent history," Romualdez added.

However, industry observers said that local mining proponents cannot railroad the government into "indiscriminately granting mining permits" as the state has to strike a balance among many factors, including the proper utilization of the country’s natural resources, the protection of the environment and ensuring the trickling down of mining benefits to Filipinos.

"It is essential to get the mining industry, and more importantly the general Philippine economy, moving forward," Romualdez said. "Without which we’ll be merely an export industry and the benefit could not accrue to the general populace of our country."

For his part, Reyes noted that while government recognizes the positive economic implications of mining, it remains fully committed to the vital and important task of safeguarding the environment and of promoting social equity in all of mining programs.

He noted that local mining contractors are required to spend at least 10 percent of their initial capital investments on environment-related infrastructures, and three to five percent of direct mining and milling costs for annual environmental protection. Mining companies are also now required to conduct test runs under the supervision of the DENR to prove that their operations do not harm the environment.

The DENR chief explained that mining companies are now required to commit one percent of direct mining and milling costs to finance social development projects to provide not only infrastructure projects on education, health, peace and order and sanitation concerns, but also to promote self-reliant communities by generating livelihood.

At the same time, Reyes stressed that the rights of indigenous communities will also be protected by seeking the consent of tribal minorities for mining projects located in their ancestral lands, and by providing them royalty payments each year amounting to at least one percent of gross revenues from the mine sites.