PMRB okays milling of ore stock piles
MEMBERS of the Benguet Provincial Mining Regulatory Board (PMRB) over the weekend granted temporary permits for the operation of ball mills and sluicing activities only.
During a recent dialogue with Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Roy Cimatu, the board approved the petition of small scale miners to process mined ores only.
The PMRB added an advisory will be issued for the guidelines in the issuance of special permits to process ore stockpiles.
Letters of request for temporary permits will be submitted to the PMRB indicating the name of owner, operator or small scale mining association, the location of stockpiles for milling, the quantity of ores to be milled, rate of milling per day, and estimated number of days to process.
This information will be validated by the PMRB’s Technical Working Group (TWG) and special permit will be issued upon recommendation of the TWG.
Milling and sluicing activities will only commence upon issuance of the temporary permits which shall take effect within a limited period and shall be deemed expired after specified date.
The board emphasized other processing activities aside from milling and sluicing remain strictly prohibited.
The PMRB will declare a Minahang Bayan area in the province upon the clearance from the DENR secretary’s office. Applications with no opposition and completed requirements will be endorsed by the board for clearance.
Gold panning activities will remain banned pending the finalization of guidelines from the board. The PMRB is eyeing the participation of the barangay and other local government units in the management of gold panning areas in their jurisdiction by granting special permits to the barangay.
Benguet PMRB is hopeful that a Minahang Bayan will soon be declared in the province after the pronouncements made by the DENR secretary during his visit in Baguio City last week.