Louise Maureen Simeon (The
Philippine Star) - April 25, 2018 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The Department
of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is limiting the areas to be mined
and developed as the government moves toward prioritizing environmental
rehabilitation of the country’s mineral operations.
Based on its latest department
administrative order, which is up for Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu’s
signature, DENR is limiting production areas from 50 to 162 hectares depending
on the mine’s annual production volumes.
Nickel mines that are producing up
to one million metric tons annually will be allowed to work on 50 hectares and
can reach up to 100 hectares for those with output of more than nine million
MT.
Mine sites with processing plants
can develop up to 162 hectares.
“Based on our existing guidelines,
we do not have progressive rehabilitation which means that during mining
operations, disturbed mine sites are just being left as they are. Miners just
do the rehabilitation at the end of the mine life,” Environment Undersecretary
and spokesperson Jonas Leones told The STAR.
“We no longer want that. Miners
cannot just open and expand without rehabilitating the initial areas first,” he
said.
The DENR’s move is in line with
President Duterte’s order directing mining companies to prioritize
rehabilitation and tree planting projects or face revocation of permits.
“The DAO simply asks miners not to
open everything because that would be more prone to pollution and
sedimentation. Mining operators have their responsibilities and it should not
be at the expense of the environment,” Leones said.
“ We will allow them but they
need to rehabilitate first instead of waiting for the end of the mine life.
They are earning from our mineral deposits, they should also do their part in
protecting the environment,” he added.
While it gave a counter proposal to
DENR’s new policy, the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) said it would
comply with the government’s order.
“We were proposing to subdivide the
mineral tenements into three: active mining area, idle area where we can do
temporary revegetation and the mined out area where we can immediately do final
rehabilitation,” COMP executive director Ronald Recidoro told The STAR in a
separate interview.
“Our concern is that it could impact
mining operations that have thin mineralization. They insisted on their model.
On our end, we saw the rationale of the DAO and we have to comply with the
President’s order to increase the green areas in mine sites,” he added.
The mining firms have also expressed
concern over the schedule of the implementation of order. The DENR wants it
implemented in the next six months.
“We’re proposing it to be done from
the start of the rainy season to ensure our survival,” Recidoro said.
“We already told them during our discussion
that all projects had feasibility studies to accommodate the operations but MGB
(Mines and Geosciences Bureau) said that based on their data, the 50-hectare
limit has already an allowance if a mine wants to procure about one million
MT,” he explained.
“But we accept the principle and
rationale of the DAO since we also want to address the perception of the
public. We have to do it and we will just probably discuss it with them again
once we encounter any problem,” Recidoro said.
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