Tuesday, January 01, 2008 DENR cites mining firm for 'conservation thrusts' By Bong S. Sarmiento
A FOREIGN-BACKED mining firm in Mindanao eyeing to employ open pit in excavating copper and gold resources in three provinces has become the "poster boy" of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on conservation efforts.
Environment Secretary Lito Atienza lauded Sagittarius Mines, Inc., saying the firm "is proving that mining operations and caring for the environment can go hand in hand."
Sagittarius, based in Tampakan, South Cotabato, landed in the good graces of the environment department after the firm opened a terrarium and butterfly garden right inside the agency's lobby in Visayas Avenue, Quezon City recently.
"The opening of this terrarium and butterfly garden would show visitors of the DENR a concrete example of how mining companies "protect and even sustain" the environment even though they are very much engaged in digging for minerals in their host communities," Atienza said.
He added that while the government is making an all-out effort to create a strong and healthy mining industry, it also makes sure that the environment is well taken care of.
"Mining activities going hand in hand with caring for the environment is now among the programs of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. This is also the direction that the Environment department is trying to follow," Atienza said.
Sagittarius's terrarium, which is on a loan to the environment department, features stick insects and millipedes from Tampakan town and popular butterflies found in the Philippines. Some of the species are being bred by Sagittarius as part of the mining firm's "effort to preserve biodiversity in their forest habitat."
Atienza said what is significant about the firm's butterfly and insect breeding project "is that it concretely shows that it provides alternative livelihood to community members."
He noted that under the revitalized mining industry, the environment department "strictly requires every mining company to implement extensive environmental programs even during the pre-feasibility phase of operations in order to ensure the protection of the environment and biodiversity."
Sagittarius, which is controlled by global mining player Xstrata Copper, is currently on a simultaneous extended pre-feasibility and feasibility study stages straddling the towns of Tampakan, Columbio in Sultan Kudarat and Kiblawan in Davao del Sur.
Early this month, Xstrata Copper released a new estimate, its first since assuming management responsibility in March that pegged resources at 2.2 billion tons, up 10 percent from the last estimate declared in April 2006.
The upgraded measured, indicated and inferred resource total to 2.2 billion tons at a grade of 0.6 percent copper and 0.2 grams per ton gold and contains 12.8 million tons of copper and 15.2 million ounces of gold using a 0.3 percent copper cut-off grade, the company said in a statement.
Previous estimates pegged resources at two billion tons, containing 11.6 million tons of copper and 14.6 million ounces of gold at a 0.3 percent copper cutoff grade.
Sometime after releasing the new estimates, Xstrata Copper has announced that open pit method will likely be employed in excavating the resources based on existing studies.
Peter Forrestal, Xstrata Copper executive general manager for project development and president of Sagittarius, said that commercial operations will commence late 2012.
"The current view of likely project configuration is open pit [mining method]. Current work [also] focused on high As [arsenic] ores, waste and tailings disposal, environment, water, geotechnical, infrastructure site identification and sterilization, and on community engagement," he said.
Indophil Resources NL also holds a stake at the Tampakan project, which is staunchly opposed by local Catholic Church leaders.
