Tuesday, September 16, 2008 Most mining investments are in exploration stage
THE Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) in Southern Mindanao said that the amount of investments being poured in by mining companies in the region cannot be felt yet by local government units (LGUs) as most are still in the exploration stage.
"Most are still exploring, not actual operations yet," Noel Angeles, regional director of MGB-Southern Mindanao said in Monday's Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City Davao's Caf‚ Rysus.
Angeles said that of the two major mining companies doing exploration in the region's vast mineral resources, only the Australia based BHP Billiton has more or less made its presence felt to the locality wherein it operates.
"They have employed 300 to 400 people in the area, so the economic benefits of their presence can be felt," Angeles said.
In mining, exploration involves putting in of equipment and hiring of workers, but only to drill samples for testing on the profitability of setting up full-scale mining operations. Exploration can take years, as this major mining company in Compostela Valley has been doing.
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Southern Mindanao chief Ricardo Calderon said that though the country belongs to the top ten countries with mineral potentials around the world, it does not even belong to the top 50 countries in terms of actual investments in the mining industry.
"We lag behind in terms of investments being poured in by mining companies," Calderon said. (CPM)
