S. Cotabato mining project halted by Gina Lopez gets ECC from Palace
KORONADAL CITY—ONE at a time, the barriers hindering the long delayed operation of the mammoth $5.9-billion Tampakan copper-gold project in South Cotabato is falling.
Recently, senior environment officials here said Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI), which is majority owned by the British multinational commodity trading and mining company Glencore PLC, has acquired an environmental clearance certificate (ECC) from Malacañang for the project that was previously canceled by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Omar Saikol, Environmental Management Bureau director for Region 12, said the Office of the President reinstated SMI’S ECC last May 6, 2019, although it was only recently known to them.
An ECC was first granted to SMI on Feb. 19, 2013, only to be canceled by then Environment Secretary (now deceased) Gina Lopez on Feb. 14, 2017, citing alleged failure to comply with its conditions.
With the ECC restored, the company’s checklist of requirements for commercial production is shortened.
Felizardo Gacad Jr., Mines and Geosciences Bureau director for Region 12, said SMI has yet to submit a certification precondition (CP) from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.
Largest reserve in Asia
The CP embodies consent from the indigenous peoples in the area.
The project also has to contend with the South Cotabato provincial government’s environmental code that bans open-pit mining, although this has already been the subject of an ongoing court battle.
The Tampakan mining tenement covers 10,000 hectares straddling the provinces of
South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and Davao del Sur. It is touted as Asia’s largest known untapped reserve of copper and gold.
The 25-year contract to mine the area was granted on March 22, 1995 to Australian firm Western Mining Corp. (WMC) from which SMI acquired mining rights in 2001.
The 1995 contract expired on March 21 this year but in 2016, it was extended by another 12 years. Under the law, the project can still be granted another 25-year term.
SMI had said it had lost time to operate the project amid difficulties beyond its control. It cited, among others, the legal conflicts over its mining contract with the government and the South Cotabato provincial government’s ban on open-pit mining imposed in 2010.
Delays
In 1997, the contract for the Tampakan project was assailed as unconstitutional for being granted to a fully foreign-owned firm. The case dragged on until 2004 when the Supreme Court eventually upheld its legality.
Project activities are also delayed due to security threats from the New People’s Army.
When operational, the project is estimated to yield an annual average of 375,000 tons of copper and 360,000 ounces of gold, in concentrate, over a 17-year period, company data showed.
The Catholic Church has strongly opposed the project, citing its massive impact on the local environment.