Wednesday, October 08, 2008 Small-scale mining hard to legalize due to patents
THE fact that most mining areas in Benguet are under the mineral claims of large companies causes the difficulty of legalizing the operations of small-scale miners.
Cordillera Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) chief Neoman dela Cruz said most of the areas where small-scale miners operate fall within the patents of big mining firms, which often do not allow their areas for small-scale operations.
Pocket miners need to secure permits before their operations could be considered lawful. This would subject them to safety rules and regulations that they must comply with.
These permits though will be issued if the small-scale miners are able to obtain the consent of mining companies who hold the mineral claims within a particular area.
Engineer Felizardo Gacad of the MGB said unless this present legal framework is modified, the MGB could not hasten the process of issuing permits to small-scale miners.
Small-scale mining has long been recognized as a formal sector of the mining industry in the region.
Dela Cruz said the MGB is currently working for the review of the current policy on permit issuance.
Mining is one of the major industries in Benguet. There exist 65 small-scale mining associations whose members come from the various towns in the province.
Dela Cruz said only about two to three small-scale miner groups secured permits to legally operate.
The matter came to light after 16 miners were trapped in a mine owned by Benguet Corp (BC). Dela Cruz and BC officials maintain the miners were illegally operating in the Goldfield mine in Antamok, Itogon, Benguet.
This is because the previous agreement between the pocket miners and BC lapsed in January 15 this year and could not be renewed because of sharing disagreements. The mining company, however, is willing to sit down with the small-scale miners again if only to legitimize their stay there.
BC opened its closed-down mines to pocket miners in order to get remaining minerals in its mines' stopes. The idea was hailed as innovative at its time because it legalized the entry of pocket miners into patented claims. (JC)
