Mining firm hopes to start groundwork for operation

General Santos City, Philippines—Global mining giant Xstrata’s Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) on Friday announced that it continues to hope to start development activities in its Tampakan project next year to lay the groundwork for full operation by 2016.

SMI, a partnership between the Switzerland-based mining firm, Indophil Resources NL and Filipino investors, to mine gold and copper deposits in Tampakan, South Cotabato and parts of Davao del Sur, was working doubly hard to acquire the necessary certificates for the projected operation, John Arnaldo, SMI corporate communications manager, told reporters here Friday.

SMI’s optimism came amid the existence of a ban by the provincial government of South Cotabato on open-pit mining and other mining methods seen to be destructive of the environment.

The ban has affected SMI’s development activities in the proposed mining area.

With a foreign direct investment of about $5.9 billion, Xstrata foresaw an annual average copper production of 340,000 tons and 350,000 ounces of gold, based on a 20-year operation of the Tampakan project.

Xstrata said the Tampakan project’s mill recovery rates were at 83-90 percent for copper and 60-80 percent for gold, with a copper concentrate grade of 37-34 percent.

Consultations

Despite prodding from Malacañang and a threat from Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo to sue the South Cotabato government for “usurping” national functions due to the passage of the ban, provincial officials refused to amend the provincial ordinance that outlawed “destructive mining” in favor of SMI.

Arnaldo said SMI would also start a massive public consultation next month.

This move, he said, would help SMI to secure an Environmental Compliance Certificate.

Recently, he said SMI completed its Environmental Impact Assessment studies and has adopted plans for managing mine wastes.

SMI also allegedly finished putting in place measures that would ensure that farmers would not be deprived of irrigation water when mining starts.

When water level in the Mal River is below the current maximum amount used by irrigators, the mine would not take any water from the system, Arnado said.

He also said that rainwater, which would come in contact with any part of the mining or processing area, will be kept separate from fresh water.

Downstream seepage collection dams to contain any water leak and treating water for release or pumping back into the main storage facility had been constructed, Arnaldo said.

SMI has also put up a nursery for its reforestation program. This ensures that cleared forests are immediately replanted, he said. Orlando Dinoy, Inquirer Mindanao