Monday, June 09, 2008 SC urged to delete open pit ban on environment code
KORONADAL CITY -- Malacañang, through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), has intervened for the exclusion of a ban on open pit mining in the environment code that is being hammered in South Cotabato province.
Environment Secretary Jose L. Atienza Jr. recently wrote a letter to Governor Daisy P. Fuentes and Vice Governor Eliordo U. Ogena to reconsider the inclusion of the ban on open pit mining in the province's environment code.
"Open pit mining is a legitimate mechanized mining method which is accepted worldwide and is considered the best mining technology in extracting large, low grade, near surface, flat-bedded or massive mineral deposits," said Atienza, also chair of the Minerals Development Council.
Atienza came to the defense of Sagittarius Mines, Inc., controlled by global mining player Xstrata Copper. The company is eyeing huge copper and gold deposits in the town of Tampakan, South Cotabato.
The company has its principal office in Tampakan.
The Tampakan project, which also straddles the towns of Columbio in Sultan Kudarat and Kiblawan in Davao del Sur, is one of the National Government's priority projects in a bid to revitalize the country's mining industry.
Initial company studies indicate that open pit mining will likely be employed for the Tampakan project. Sagittarius is expected to make a formal, definite announcement on the method that will be used for the project before the end of the year.
Atienza allayed fears of groups opposing the project, including the local Catholic Church, that open pit mining will cause irreparable damage to the environment.
He noted that the environmental impact of open pit mining can be managed or remedied with modern technologies, systems and practices.
Atienza said that unlike most industries, the location of the mineral deposit is not guided by free choice nor conditioned by proximity to markets but dictated by the imperatives of geology.
"Disallowing the use of open pit as a mining method, therefore, means leaving a number of potentially high-profit mineral deposits," the secretary said.
Citing an opinion from the Department of Justice, Atienza said that moratoriums against mining contravene the Philippine constitution.
Atienza also argued the province's environment code, once it prohibits open pit mining, will contravene the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.
The Mining Act does not impose any prohibition on any mining method that may be used but instead ensures that all potential environmental and social impacts are managed during and beyond the life of the mine.
Ogena earlier said they will embark on a study tour on open mining sites in the country to give members of the Provincial Board (PB), which he chairs, the "chance to make informed decisions." (BSS)
