There’ll be no ‘wild West’ in Diwalwal, says mine firm

There will be no “wild, wild West” type of violence in the exploration of the 950-hectare tribal mining areas (Trimas) in the Diwalwal mineral reservation in Compostela Valley, according to Jake Mining Co. president and chief executive Eric Tagle.

In a press statement on Monday, Tagle stressed that, on the contrary, all the four groups of indigenous peoples (IP) controlling Diwalwal’s Trimas had agreed to jointly and peacefully explore the site with Jake Mining as their investor and sole mining partner.

Aside from the four IP groups, other tribes in and around Diwalwal have agreed to fully support the exploration of the mine site as well as oppose the destructive operations of haphazard small-scale mining, according to Tagle.

He issued the statement in reaction to one made by a local official who called on the government to legalize small-scale mining in Diwalwal. The same official warned that there could be fighting reminiscent of the “wild, wild West” gold rush in the United States in the 1800s.

“The fact is that the tribal groups in and around Diwalwal have forged a historic declaration of unity in which they agreed to end their conflicts so they can jointly explore and develop Diwalwal’s Trimas,” Tagle said.

No less than National Commission on Indigenous People Chair Roque N. Agton Jr. witnessed the signing of the unity’s declaration by the Mandaya, Manobo, Mangguangan and Dibabawon tribes that have ancestral claims over areas of the Diwalwal mineral reservation.

The tribal leaders also have issued a resolution dated April 27 unanimously selecting Jake Mining as their only investment and mining partner in Trimas 1 and 2.

Tagle said that the government, which has been enticing foreign mining investors to invest in the Philippines, would surely not take sitting down any veiled threat of lawlessness unless small-scale mining was legalized.

He added that potential investors, including listed firms based in China, Canada, Australia, the United States and Singapore must be assured by the government not only of security but also regarding their concerns about contracts, governance and corruption.

According to Tagle, exploration and development costs of the 950-hectare mining area, which covers only about a tenth of Diwalwal’s mineral reservation, was initially estimated at $1 billion to $2 billion.