THE Catholic Church has urged last week foreign-backed miner Sagittarius Mines Inc. to be transparent in its community dealings, especially now that the firm has announced commitments for a feasibility study.

Fr. Romeo Q. Catedral, social action director of the Diocese of Marbel, also called on the South Cotabato Provincial Board (PB) to finally enact the environment code that prohibits open-pit mining in the area.

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"We appeal to the people in the affected communities to give us feedback. The local Catholic Church does not know in what process the company is in now," he said.

Catedral said the people should exact transparency from Sagittarius, telling the affected communities that what it is doing is under the feasibility study or part of the environmental impact assessment.

Last week, Sagittarius, owned majority by Swiss mining giant Xstrata Copper and Australian Indophil Resources NL as junior partner, announced its commitment to push the project through to a feasibility study worth $74 million. Filipino conglomerate Alsons Corporation holds a 3.27 percent stake to the project.

But Sagittarius did not say in its announcement the date when the feasibility study would start.

John B. Arnaldo, Sagittarius corporate communications manager, did not return a call when sought for clarification but Gavan Collery, Indophil corporate affairs manager, said by email that the feasibility study and the EIA processes "are both underway."

Collery said both processes will be completed by the second quarter of 2010.

The Catholic Church, however, does not have information on what's actually happening in the ground, with Fr. Catedral stressing that Sagittarius "has never considered the Roman religious sector as a stakeholder due to its consistent opposition to the Tampakan copper-gold project."

In its announcement to go ahead with the feasibility study, Sagittarius said it has conducted a thorough review of the results of all work programs associated with the extended pre-feasibility study.

The feasibility study will entail a detailed engineering study to determine whether the project will advance to development stage, Sagittarius said in a statement.

The firm said it has engaged the services of Bechtel, a global leader in engineering and construction, as the lead engineer for the Tampakan feasibility study under a global alliance with Xstrata Copper that covers the potential execution of multiple copper concentrator projects.

"This phase we are embarking on is very significant for SMI and for the future of the Tampakan project. The decision to develop a major copper mine at Tampakan will depend on the outcomes of the feasibility study, which will examine the economic, social and environmental viability of this project," said Peter Forrestal, Sagittarius president.

"Through all its development stages, the Tampakan project will continue to be run in line with leading environmental and social practices, based on partnership with its stakeholders, to create mutual benefits for shareholders, the communities associated with the project and the Philippines," Forrestal said. (BSS)