Published
June 8, 2018, 10:01 PM By Madelaine B. Miraflor
It is now the job of
mining companies to look for an alternative to open-pit mining method as
ordered by Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu — who, for the nth time, said the
government is not keen to lift the ban on the destructive method.
“We have to reinvent
mining in the Philippines or we will shut you down by the end of the
year,” Cimatu told mining companies during the Philippine Mining Club Luncheon
in Makati yesterday.
During the meeting,
Cimatu said miners should prepare for a scenario where there is no longer
open-pit mining in the country.
“We will discuss what
will be the alternative to this mining method,” Cimatu said.
“I’m asking you to form
a working group to find out what’s the alternative to open-pit mining and you
should be prepared to present this,” he added.
Before flying to China
in April, President Rodrigo Duterte said he would extend the ban on open-pit
mine if mining firms will fail to conduct progressive rehabilitation and plant
trees.
To recall, it was
former Environment Secretary Regina Paz Lopez who placed the ban on the use of
the open-pit mining method for the extraction of copper, gold, silver and
complex ores in the country.
Even if he has the
power to repeal the order himself, Cimatu said it’s now up to the President
whether he will keep the order or not. Open-pit mining is an internationally
accepted method for mining where you extract minerals from the surface.
Passed into law in
1995, the Philippine Mining Act, the main legislation that governs all mining
operations in the country, currently allows open-pit mining.
Former Mines and
Geoscience Bureau (MGB) director Leo Jasareno, however, said before that the
law is actually “silent in terms of the mining method that can be used.”
Cimatu said that moving
forward, miners should adopt new technology to maximize mineral ore utilization
and environment protection
Meanwhile, mining
companies which will fail to comply with a soon-to-be released Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) order on Progressive Rehabilitation
may face permanent disqualification to acquire and take hold of mining permits.
During the luncheon,
Cimatu presented new MGB proposed regulations, which provide guidelines for
additional environmental measures for operating surface metallic mines and the
setting of the maximum disturbed area for nickel mines.
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