MVP’s Philex upbeat on mining despite Gina

PHILEX Mining Corp. continues to expect business to be good even with a new administration that appears to be anti-mining, looking at its full-year 2016 performance to be better than the previous year.

“Yes, our outlook is still positive,” Philex Mining chair Manuel V. Pangilinan told reporters on Wednesday. “We’ll have to see through that.”

Pangilinan was referring to staunch anti-mining advocate Regina “Gina” Lopez taking over the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) after accepting President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s offer for the position last week.

Pangilinan said that whatever recent developments had been, Philex as an operating company—producing gold, silver and copper—needed to and would carry on.

What’s in store?

During Wednesday’s annual meeting of Philex’s stockholders, Pangilinan was asked what was in store for their company after losing value—reportedly about P10 billion

—following the market’s initial reaction to Lopez’s appointment.

“Our reading is that the President-elect is not anti-mining per se, but he is against irresponsible mining,” Pangilinan said in response to the stockholder’s question.

“[Duterte] has the sole prerogative on appointing [Gina Lopez], so we are looking forward to working with DENR under her,” he added.

Even then, Pangilinan referred questions on the matter to the report of Philex chief executive—Eulalio Austin Jr.—which the latter delivered earlier during the meeting.

Austin talked about how mining products are found in most packaging of consumer products and are major ingredients in appliances like microwave and conventional ovens, utensils, cooking ware, refrigerators and air conditioning units that people use in their daily lives.

He added that the steel used as foundations in the construction of cityscapes and various infrastructure as well as the components used for assembling the different modes of transport are all products of mining.

“And if you haven’t taken notice yet, the mobile phones and various equipment and gadgets that we use to communicate and get in touch with our loved ones are basically made from copper, silver and gold—which are all products of  Philex Mining,” Austin said.

“Given the indispensability of mining in our daily lives, mineral resource development will be most effective if performed in accordance with the mandates of law and with the primary consideration for national interest over personal advocacies,” he added.

Considering this, Austin said mines should be organized in locations officially classified for such purpose, with operations extending beyond resource extraction and properly compensating the land with greater benefits for individuals and areas affected.