Company says nickel mining ECC reinstated

CITY OF CALAPAN—Government and Church leaders, and environmentalists here have raised an alarm over reports that the environmental compliance certificate (ECC) for Intex Resources ASA to mine ore in Mindoro was reinstated by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) after six years of suspension.

Oriental Mindoro Gov. Alfonso Umali Jr. and Bishop Warlito Cajandig, in a meeting of the Provincial Care Forum at the bishop’s residence on Friday, vowed to oppose the reinstated ECC for Intex.

Umali, in a text message Saturday, said he was caught by surprise by the action of the DENR, given the strong opposition from the provincial government for Intex’s operation on the island.

He believed the ECC could not be a basis for Intex to resume operation here since its mining project had no social acceptability from the community.

The Norway-based Intex announced in an April 9 post on its website the reinstatement of the ECC for its “world-class” Mindoro nickel project, that the company has described as its “main asset.”

The project covers around 3,000 hectares in the municipality of Victoria in Oriental Mindoro province and about 9,000 hectares in Sablayan town in Occidental Mindoro.

The project is expected to produce 100 to 120 million tons of ore over 15 to 20 years, the company said.

“The ECC was suspended in November 2009 and the ECC has been reinstated with full force, without any new conditions and with validity of four years and 10 months,” said Intex on April 9.

Then Environment Secretary Lito Atienza temporarily revoked the ECC in response to the 10-day hunger strike staged by Mindorenos, including tribal Mangyan and priest Edwin Gariguez of Alyansa Laban sa Mina (Alamin).

The protestors, including local government officials, said the Intex mining site is within the critical area of the watershed and an ancestral domain area.

The Oriental Mindoro provincial government also imposed a 25-year large-scale mining ban through an ordinance it adopted in January 2002. The same ordinance was cited by the provincial government when, in 2009, it opposed the ECC granted to Intex.

“After a long period of constructive dialogue with various national authorities and government bodies in the Philippines, the company is pleased and relieved with this decision,” said Henno Grenness, chief executive officer of Intex, in a statement also posted on the company’s website on April 9.

Alamin, in a statement Sunday, said the reinstatement came as a surprise, since no information were available on the online portals of Malacañang and the DENR.

Special order

Alamin said the November 2009 ECC cancellation was part of Special Order 2009-921 signed by Atienza, which ordered an investigation of the alleged anomalies in securing the ECC.

The result of the two-year investigation signed by Umali and then Occidental Mindoro Gov. Josephine Sato were submitted to the DENR and Malacañang in 2012.

The investigation team recommended, among others, not only the permanent cancellation of ECC but also the revocation of the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement between Intex Resources and Aglubang Mining Corp.

The Oriental Mindoro provincial government made several follow ups on the results of the recommendations of the investigating team but there was no response from the DENR and Malacañang, even up to this point.