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Monday, April 04, 2005
Mines firm now 95% foreign-owned
By Allen V. Estabillo
LESS than four months after the Supreme Court allowed foreign mining companies to operate in the country, an Australian mining firm backing the development of the copper and gold deposits in the mountains of Tampakan, South Cotabato officially declared that it now controls at least 95 percent of the proposed large-scale mining project.
The management of Indophil Resources NL, cited in its 2004 annual report posted last March 24 at the company's website that it "presently holds 95 percent of the common stock on issue" in the Tampakan-based Sagittarius Mines, Incorporated (SMI).
According to the Philippine Stocks Exchange, common stocks "are usually purchased for participation in the profits and control of ownership and management of the company."
"Holders of common stocks have voting rights. They are also entitled to an equal pro rata division of profits without preference or advantage over another stockholder," the PSE said.
SMI executives had declared that at least 60 percent of the company's interest is owned by Filipino businessmen while the remaining 40 percent is shared by Indophil and its partners, which included local firm Alsons Corporation.
In its report, Indophil described SMI as an "unlisted Philippine incorporated entity through which the company and its Philippine partners, Alsons and the Tampakan Group of Companies (TGC) hold their respective interests in the Tampakan copper and gold project."
It cited that the TGC was the original claim owners that held preferential rights to the Tampakan project area prior to the granting from the national government of a Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement to the WMC.
Indophil said that through a series of agreements between the company and the TGC, SMI has acquired the mining rights to the Tampakan project.
"Under the various agreements, the TGC have forgone their beneficial interest in the Tampakan Copper/Gold Project for a royalty stream based on future mine production," Indophil said.
But Rolando Doria, SMI's project coordinator, said in a phone interview that nothing has so far changed regarding the ownership of SMI.
Doria, however, admitted that he was not aware of Indophil's statements in its recent annual report.
"What I know is that, Indophil owns 95 percent and Alsons five percent of its 40 percent interest in the SMI," he said.
Doria added that the 60 percent interest in SMI is owned by Filipino businessmen through the TGC.
Reacting to Indophil's statements, Soccsksargen Alliance for Genuine Development or Socsksargen Agenda chair Eliezer Billanes said they were not surprised by the company's recent declaration regarding its stakes in SMI.
Socsksargen Agenda is a broad alliance of religious and cause-oriented groups in South Cotabato, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat, Cotabato and Davao del Sur provinces that includes the Coalition of Anti-Mining Movements and the Diocese of Marbel, Kidapawan and Digos.
"We first heard of such development based on published reports from Australia as early as January," he said.
Billanes said such statements made by Indophil clearly show that it "fooled" the government and the local residents regarding its interest in the Tampakan copper and gold project.
Tony Robbins, Indophil's managing director, said the company's involvement in the Tampakan project was boosted by the developments that came up from December 1, 2004 to February 1, 2005.
He specifically cited the issuance of the Supreme Court's December 1 decision that upheld the validity and the constitutionality of the 1995 Mining Act and the Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) granted by the national government to Western Mining Corporation Philippines (WMCP).
In a 246-page decision penned by Justice Panganiban, the Supreme Court declared the Mining Act or Republic Act 7492 as constitutional, overturning its January 27, 2004 decision that nullified such law and the FTAA between the WMCP.
Two months later, the high court junked an appeal against such decision, making it final and executory.
WMCP, a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Mining Corporation Holdings Limited of Australia, initially explored the gold and copper deposits in Tampakan town in 1990 but it later withdrew from the project supposedly due to financial constraints and the growing opposition from local residents.
WMCP eventually transferred its FTAA to SMI, which officially took over the Tampakan project in late 2002.
For Bisaya stories from General Santos. Click here. (This section is updated every Monday)
(April 4, 2005 issue)
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