Published
December 3, 2016, 10:01 PM By Madelaine B. Miraflor
The Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is now more than three months behind
its target schedule as to when it intends to announce the list of mining firms
that should be suspended.
Ever since DENR
Secretary Gina Lopez officially took over the agency in July, she’s been eager
to shut down mining companies that she believes are not compliant with
environmental standards.
In the same month, she
called for a nationwide crackdown on mining firms, which has ended in August.
By September, instead
of closing down mining firms as initially planned, the DENR just issued
show-cause orders to 20 companies that were recommended for suspension by the
agency’s Mining Audit Team.
Mining operators were
only given seven days to respond to DENR’s concerns and now that all of them
have already complied with this, the DENR has still yet to come up with the
final audit result, which, according to Lopez last week, should already be out
this week.
Industry sources now
doubt the agency’s capability to ever come up with a final and credible results
this year amid all these delays.
Lopez told Business
Bulletin last week that DENR is now on the process of finalizing the end
results of the mining audit.
“We’re finalizing it
(the results) and the companies that have replied to our show cause orders.
Maybe next (this) week, we can already give the names,” Lopez said in a phone
interview.
Lopez said that while
going through with the mining audit report, she found out that many companies
didn’t allocate enough budget for rehabilitation.
“Many companies don’t
have enough funds for rehabilitation. That is a mortal sin,” Lopez said.
Under the Philippine
Mining Act, a Mine Rehabilitation Fund (MRF) shall be deposited as a trust fund
in a government depository bank and shall be used for physical and social
rehabilitation of areas and communities affeced by mining activities and for
research on the social, technical and preventive aspects of rehabilitation.
To recall, as much as
21 out of the country’s 41 metallic mines have been recommended for suspension
as the initial result of the government’s nationwide audit on the mining
industry.
Companies that have
been recommended for suspension includes Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company,
Filminera Resources Corp., OceanaGold Philippines, Inc., Benguet Corp.,
Marcventures Mining and Development Corporation; Sinosteel Philippines H.Y.
Mining Corp.; Agata Mining Ventures, Inc.; Hinatuan Mining Corporation; Libjo
Mining Corporation; AAMPHIL Natural Resources Exploration and Development
Corp.; Krominco, Inc.; Carrascal Nickel Corp.; Strongbuilt Mining Development
Corp.; Oriental Synergy Mining Corp.; Wellex Mining Corp.; Oriental Vision
Mining Philippines Corp.; CTP Construction and Mining Corp.; and Adnama Mining
Resources, Inc.; Century Peak Corp.; and SR Metals, Inc.
Prior to the final results,
there are also other suspended mines namely Citinickel Mines and Development
Corp. (CMDC), EMIR Mineral Resources Corp., Mt. Sinai Mining Exploration Corp.,
Claver Mineral Development Corp., Ore Asia Mining and Development Corp., and
Zambales Diversified Metals Corp., LNL Archipelago Minerals, Inc., and Berong
Nickel.
A Reuters report showed
on Friday that Manila’s mining crackdown drove nickel to a then one-year high
of $11,030 a tonne in August. Last month the prices briefly pierced $12,000 a
tonne for the first time since July 2015 in a broad-based rally in industrial
metals.
Nickel was trading at
$11,150 on Friday, but analysts say it could top $12,000 again if the
Philippines suspends more mines.
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