Updated
By Madelaine B. Miraflor
Soon enough, there will
be another reason for the country’s highly challenged mineral sector to be more
cautious.
This, as the government
said it will not hesitate to shutdown or suspend companies that will fail to
follow the new Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) order
which forces mining companies to start their rehabilitation efforts even if
their operations are still taking place.
Environment
Undersecretary Jonas Leones said the DENR’s Department Administrative Order
(DAO) on progressive rehabilitation will be finally signed by Environment
Secretary Roy Cimatu in the early part of May.
Non-compliance of the
order — which would be applicable to all mining operations, even the existing
ones that already have feasibility studies — can result to suspension and
closure, he said.
Under the DAO, if a
miner is producing 1 million metric tons (MT) or less, they can only operate
within 50 hectares of their mine site. If their production goes around 1
million to 3 million MT, miners are only allowed to operate within 60 hectares
of their tenements, while those producing 3 million to 5 million MT can only
excavate within 70 hectares of its contract area.
To oppose some
provisions in the DAO, the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP), the
organization of some of the country’s largest mining companies, has earlier
submitted its comments to the DENR, which are now being reviewed by the agency.
This was confirmed by a
source from the DENR, who said some provisions in the DAO “didn’t sit well”
with miners, especially those with existing large-scale operations since they
already have a detailed plan that they are executing.
Once implemented, the
DAO will force these companies to make major adjustments in their operations as
well as start their rehabilitation efforts way earlier than they are supposed
to be.
Based on the existing
laws, miners are only required to implement their final mine rehabilitation or
decommissioning plan at least five years prior to the end of their mineral
agreements, which normally have a term of 25 years.
Leones said the DAO
“doesn’t violate the rights of the miners” because “in the first place, they
are required to rehabilitate and that the new order is just requiring them to
adjust it.”
“They really have to
adjust,” Leones said. “This order really intends to cause a shake-up the
industry.”
“In the previous
guidelines, no provisions tell the miners where they can operate. Their
rehabilitation only comes at the end of their rehabilitation that’s why mine
sites normally looked bad,” he added.
Meanwhile, Nickel Asia
Corporation (NAC), the country’s largest nickel producer, is unfazed by the new
order, saying that it will not impact its production volumes.
“NAC’s two largest
operations, Taganito and Rio Tuba, both supply ore on long term supply
arrangements to NAC’s two affiliate domestic processing plants, Taganito HPAL
and Coral Bay. The proposed Administrative Order provides for larger mining
areas to mining operations supplying ore to domestic processing plants. Of its
two smaller operations, its Cagdianao mine is within the maximum allowable area
while its Hinatuan operation will be able to maintain its production volume
within the allowable mining area,” NAC explained.
Based on the DAO,
miners with mineral processing plants are allowed to work on 162 hectares of
their contract area.
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