DENR SUSPENDS IMPLEMENTATION OF MINING NEW POLICY GUIDELINES
(E079)
[PHOTO -The DENR logo]
MANILA, OCTOBER 1, 2012 (INQUIRER) By Jeannette I. Andrade –
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has suspended the
implementation of its guidelines on the government's new mining policy to give
way to amendments on its "ambiguous" provision on the renewal of expiring mining
contracts.
In a memorandum issued Friday by DENR undersecretary Demetrio Ignacio Jr. to
all concerned offices and the Mining and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), he said that
DENR administrative order 2012-07 or the implementing rules and regulations of
Executive Order 79 is suspended pending the issuance and effectivity of
amendments.
The IRR for EO 79, which embodies President Aquino's policy on
mining, was supposed to take effect Saturday (Sept. 29, 2012), or 15 days after
it was published.
Ignacio told the Inquirer that the decision to suspend the implementation of
the IRR was reached after a meeting last Monday in Malacañang convened by the
Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC), headed by Finance Secretary Cesar
Purisima.
"It was decided to make the IRR less ambiguous," the undersecretary said,
adding that the meeting had been called over concerns raised by the Chamber of
Mines of the Philippines (COMP) on section 9 of the guidelines which it has
described as "patently illegal."
[PHOTOS FROM THE BATANG
TIBAK BLOG- MINING IN THE PHILIPPINES]
The COMP claimed that the government review of mining contracts would shorten
the maximum 50-year period for projects by imposing a bidding scheme for the
renewal after the first 25 years of a tenement.
The group further said that the provision contradicts the Philippine Mining
Act of 1995 which provides: "Mineral agreements shall have a term not exceeding
25 years to start from the date of execution thereof, and renewable for another
term not exceeding 25 years under the same terms and conditions thereof, without
prejudice to charges mutually agreed upon by the parties."
Section 9 of the IRR states that "in the case of expiring 25-year mining
tenements, the qualified mining tenement holder electing to exercise its rights
to renew the said mining tenement for another 25-year term shall file the
pertinent mining application in the MGB not later than six months prior to the
expiration of the same mining tenement."
It further provides that "the mining contract/agreement that may be renewed
shall be subject to new terms and conditions pursuant to the laws, rules and
regulations that are existing at the time of the renewal or may be hereafter
issued, such as, but not limited to, the establishment of the contract area as a
mineral reservation."
Ignacio told the Inquirer that during the meeting, the members of the MICC
agreed to amend the provision to make it clearer and suspend the implementation
of the IRR until the amendment is published.
"We are not going to do anything else," the undersecretary assured, referring
to changes in other portions of the IRR.
EO 79 has been touted as the centerpiece of the government's mining reforms
program while the IRR was described to be leaning more toward environmental
preservation than earning revenues for the government from mining.
FROM INQUIRER BUSINESS NEWS
Mining group to challenge in court a provision in new mining
rules By Riza T. Olchondra Philippine Daily Inquirer
1:17 pm | Wednesday
[PHOTO -Chamber of Mines of the Philippines president Benjamin
Philip Romualdez]
MANILA, PHILIPPINES: Mining companies will challenge the government in court
over what they claim as a "patently illegal" provision in the implementing rules
of Executive Order 79 on mining policy reforms, according to the Chamber of
Mines of the Philippines.
Chamber president Benjamin Philip Romualdez told reporters on the sidelines
of the Mining Philippines 2012 Conference that mining companies were "preparing
legal action against government" over Section 9 of the implementing rules and
regulations (IRR) of EO 79.
The IRR provision says the government can renegotiate the terms of mining
contracts after the first 25 years. This effectively shortens the potential
project period from the existing maximum period of 50 years.
Mining companies "will sue," Romualdez said. Since the government took "a lot
of time" in putting together the IRR, industry players have carefully reviewed
the provisions and their position is to sue, he added.
Romualdez expressed hope that Vice-President Jejomar Binay (photo at
right), the keynote speaker at the conference, would relay to the agencies
and officials concerned the industry's "shock" over the implementing rules.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FROM THE BATANG TIBAK
BLOG
<http://batangtibak.blogspot.ca/2010/06/philippine-mining-industry.html>
THE PHILIPPINE MINING INDUSTRY
by Ramon I. Castillo Benguet Mines, Philippines
[PHOTO- Checking for the suitability of the ceiling after
an explosion.]
The Overview
…profit dictates the operations, to a philosophy that incorporates social
and environmental considerations as equal to profit.
The Mining Industry has been under siege for its social and environmental
issues. For years, the industry has been attacked with countless accounts of
environmental disasters, socio-cultural displacements, and mining firms'
encroachment into traditional lands. When the industry started to create a more
environment and people-friendly advancements, these negative attacks were dodge
off, and the industry bounced back and boomed.
The industry's advancements created a new image of what the industry could
bring to the people. With the world's drive towards globalization and
industrialization, the industry of mining became more efficient in sustaining
ones nations' economic growth.
Since 1985, over 75 countries started to introduce or in the process of
introducing new mining laws and policies, to improve the environment for private
investment. Even though Philippines has been one of the countries suppressed by
the destruction caught by the Mining Industry, the government has always been
willing to embrace the new transitional mining firms to exploit the mineral
resources.
No matter how the government would describe it, they can't deny that they
more desirably go for international firms that local corporation to exploit the
Philippine resources. This shows that now the profit dictates the operations, to
a philosophy that incorporates social and environmental considerations as equal
to profit.
Understanding Mining and the Mining Industry
Mining is simply the extraction of minerals from the earth. It is a distinct
industry because of the nature of its product, which dictates the nature of
operation and process that have to be undertaken. To note are the following:
•Ore grade- is the percentage of desirable material out of the total
matrix. The global average for copper ore, for example, is around 0.9% (while
Stocks lasts). This means that for every ton of excavation, less than a kilogram
of metal is produced. For gold, the figures are more appalling. On the average,
around 6 tonnes of rock need to be processed to produce an ounce of gold. Ore
grade are getting lower and lower since the high grade ores are naturally the
first to be mined.
•Compounds- Minerals, especially metals, are not usually found in
elementary form. While some metals may be extracted through "gravitational
methods", those that are in the form of compounds such as sulphides or oxides
need to be extracted using chemical separation methods. The mineral input needed
for extraction of these metals usually contribute substantially to total
wastage.
Reference: -All That Glitters: Understanding the Myth of Sustainable
Mining in the Philippines, Issue Paper 97-01, by Andre Gerard Garcia
Ballesteros, LRC-KSK / Friends of the Earth Philippines. -www.mgb10.com -http://www.snowdengroup.com/peopleschoice2007
/thumbnails/Castillo_751_mining5.jpg
THE PHILIPPINE MINING ACT OF 1995
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