DENR exec: More than 300 mining contracts are ‘active’ nationwide

MANILA, Philippines — About 372 mining contracts are existing in the country but only 108 mines are allowed to operate, a Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) official said Tuesday.

“For the entire country, there are about 372 MPSAs [mineral production sharing agreement] in the country but there are about 108 operating mines, karamihan dun sa 372 nasa exploration stage [most of them are in exploration stage],” Lawyer Wilfredo Moncano, director of Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) under DENR, said in a DENR press conference on crackdown of illegal mining in Quezon City.

Moncano said 90 to 95 percent of the mining companies are operating in mountainous areas in the Philippines.

In a text message to INQUIRER.net, the DENR-MGB said only 108 mines are actively operating because of their fulfillment of mining laws.

“Likely, it is only these 108 that have been cleared for operation due to fulfillment of mining regulations and requirements, but there can be other factors. It depends from case to case but this is usually the case,” the agency said.

Under the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, the MPSA is one of three types of mineral agreements that the government grants to a contractor for the right to mine within, but not title over, a contract area. /muf