MANILA — The government has vowed to work with mining companies to build public confidence in the mining sector.
At the Mining Philippines 2018 International Conference and Exhibition being held at Sofitel in Pasay City, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Undersecretary Analiza Rebuelta-Teh cited the mining industry’s significant contribution to social and economic development.
She said that to communicate the gains of responsible mining in the country, effective environment and social safeguards should be in place on the part of the government. “The mining performance review and the recent policy issuances are efforts to build public confidence on mining,” Teh said.
The Philippines is among the world’s most mineralized nations.
Based on Mines and Geosciences Bureau’s (MGB) estimates, the country’s total estimated gold reserves in 2016 stood at 1.9 billion metric tons (MT) with an average grade of 0.16 grams per ton, while silver has 1.7 billion MT with an average grade of 1.27 grams per ton.
Copper reserves, on the other hand, are estimated to be around 1.8 billion MT, while iron and nickel have reserves of 116 million MT and 116.14 million MT, respectively.
Chromite’s reserves stood at around 47.3 million MT.
The Philippines is also considered as one of the top nickel exporters in the world, with production ranging from 30 million wet metric tons (WMT) to 36 million WMT as of 2017.
As part of the government’s efforts to help promote and enforce sustainable practices in the mining sector, Teh said the DENR, through the MGB, is now considering to implement certain policy recommendations.
These include: re-examination of the timing of required mining planning documents and related permits; expansion of the one-stop committee concept to all other permitting processes in the sector; strengthening the government’s progress, performance, and impact monitoring; revisit taxes, fees, penalties, and contingency funds; institutional strengthening; and better management of financial, reputation/investment, environmental, and climate risks.
“In communicating the gains of responsible mining, it is about time that the mining industry shows that it strives to become a champion in promoting responsible stewardship of natural resources and the environment,” Teh said. (Mining Conference 2018 PR/PNA)
