MGB forwards to MICC mining firms’ petition vs open-pit prohibition
THE Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) said it submitted to the Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC) the petition of five mining firms to lift the ban on the open-pit method, which the interagency body will tackle starting next week.
“The TWG ( technical working group) will meet on Sept. 28 while the MICC itself (is meeting on) Oct. 17. The agenda will be the review on open-pit policy,” MGB Assistant Director Danilo U. Uykieng said in an interview on Wednesday at the Senate.
“The TWG will recommend to MICC and maybe it will decide or not on Oct. 17,” Mr. Uykieng added.
The MGB added it submitted to the MICC the petition of five mining companies requesting the bureau to lift the ban on open-pit mining.
These companies are Philex Mining Corp. and its subsidiary Silangan Mindanao Mining Corp., Inc., Filminera Resources, Corp., Sagittarius Mines, Inc., and KingKing Mining Corp. The petitioners contend that the ban has no legal basis, Mr. Uykieng said.
The MICC assigned its TWG on Economic Affairs and Environment to review whether open-pit mining should be allowed or not.
Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu left the council to decide on open-pit policy, among other issues. The MICC is authorized under Executive Order 79, signed in 2012, to review mining-related rules.
The MICC is co-chaired by the Secretaries of the Departments of Finance and of the Environment.
Administrative Order No. 201720, issued and signed by former Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez on April 27, 2017, requires all open-pit metal mines that have not started operating but hold an approved Declaration of Mining Project Feasibility — the final requirement mining firms have to secure before operating — to review their mining method and submit their results by October, six months from the issuance of the order.