by Madelaine B. Miraflor July
27, 2016
ecretary Regina Lopez
of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) yesterday made
sure that this administration will not allow the take off of what could be the
country’s largest mining project and one of the world’s largest copper mines —
the $5.9-billion Tampakan gold-copper mine — as she firmly believes this will
only benefit the businesses and not the people.
DENR
Secretary Regina Lopez shows photos from the department’s audit of mining
operations in Mindanao during a press conference held yesterday at the Ninoy
Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center in Quezon City. (MB photo/Federico Cruz)
/mb.com.ph
The Tampakan project,
the largest stalled mining venture in the country, has been put on hold since
2010 after the local government unit (LGU) of South Cotabato banned open-pit
mining in the province.
The decision led to the
biggest foreign divestment ever recorded in the Philippines when Anglo-Swiss
mining giant Glencore plc decided to exit the project.
Lopez said she will not
allow the Tampakan mine project to push through during her term even if it
means a lost investment opportunity for the country.
With an estimated
US$5.9-billion project value, the mine is estimated to yield an average of
375,000 tons per annum of copper and 360,000 ounces per annum of gold in
concentrate over the 17 year period of mining and ore production.
“I don’t like Tampakan
at all. Not even a little bit. It’s a seven-hundred football field open-pit
mine on top of an agriculture land,” Lopez told reporters yesterday.
“There is no way I will
ever, ever, ever allow a seven-hundred football field open-pit mine be on top
of an agriculture land. It’s immoral. I don’t know what the law is but to me it
is socially unjust of business companies to put the lives of the farmers there
and the indigenous people there at risk,” she added.
She then said that all
the permits given to the project will be reviewed.
“I’m going to study all
the permits given to the project but I can’t go against due process. The common
good is the criteria. We will follow the law,” Lopez said.
Mines and Geosciences
Bureau director Leo Jasareno said that the secretary is allowed to review all
the permits that have been previously awarded to any project.
To recall, the DENR has
cleared the project in 2013, granting it an Environmental Clearance Certificate
(ECC) in 2013 despite the open-pit mining ban imposed by the local government.
In a separate
interview, Jasareno said even if the ECC has already been given to the project,
issues with indigenous people, among others, still has to be addressed.
The Tampakan Project is
under a Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) with the Philippine
government, a partnership that allows the government to take a pre-determined
share of project cash flow once development capital is paid back.
The project is owned by
Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI) and Indophil, which is controlled by the
Alcantara group through Alsons Prime Investments Corp. (Apic).
Following the sale of
its interest in SMI in 2015, Glencore is no longer involved with the Tampakan
Project.
The Tampakan Project is
100 percent owned by local interests.
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