Friday, July 09, 2004 Mining operation to go full blast in 2009 By Bong S. Sarmiento
KORONADAL CITY -- A mining firm hoping to have full blast operations in southern Mindanao would likely begin in 2009 even if the Supreme Court will act unfavorably over an appeal on the unconstitutionality of certain provisions of the 1995 Mining Act.
Allan Buenavista, project manager of the Sagittarius Mines, Inc., said the on going exploratory studies being taken in the towns of Tampakan in South Cotabato, Columbio in Sultan Kudarat and Kiblawan in Davao del Sur, indicate interesting results.
"At the rate the company is going, it is positive the mineral development operations would start five years from now," he said.
He added they would possibly start early next year the feasibility study of the project with the help from their Australian partner.
The project is 60 percent Filipino-owned and 40 percent Australian-owned.
Rolando Doria, SMI project coordinator, told a gathering of students Wednesday that ore samples they found are "world class" in nature.
Amid the staunch opposition from the local religious sector, Doria assured the students the company would do their best to minimize the environmental impact of the project to the communities directly affected and the periphery.
Buenavista said mining firm would continue operation even if the Supreme Court will decide with finality the matter about the unconstitutionality of the Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) as the firm has other options.
On January 27 this year, the High Tribunal ruled that FTAAs are unlawful.
An FTAA allows a holder to explore, develop and utilize any mineral resources within a contract area.
SMI is presently operating on the basis of the FTAA granted to the previous project owner, the Australian-owned Western Mining Corp.
The Supreme Court decision has been appealed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as well as SMI, said Al Lagunzad, the firm's legal department head.
Lagunzad said that if the Supreme Court will not reverse its decision, they could still operate using the company's approved mining claims under the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) approved by the government in 1994.
Rodolfo Coloso Jr., SMI senior corporate and government affairs officer, said that under the MPSA, they could still conduct operations over 3,000 hectares of land.
SMI, under the nullified FTAA granted way back the Ramos administration, is supposedly allowed to conduct explorations over some 100,000 hectares of land straddling the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Davao del Sur.
Earlier, Tampakan Mayor Claudius Barroso, who owns shares at SMI, played down the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision on the operations of the firm.
"We think the [Supreme Court] ruling has no substantial bearing on the operations of the firm. Besides, the company has already been 60 percent Filipino-owned, even before the ruling came out.
The firm might have to make some adjustments in terms of the legal requirements, but they are already essentially in compliance with the ruling, Barroso stressed in a media statement.
Marbel Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez said they would continue opposing the mining project because of the apparent environmental damage the project would bring to the area.
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