Firm optimistic as mining ban review starts in SCotabato

A large-scale mining company on Sunday expressed optimism that the South Cotabato provincial government will lift its ban on open-pit mining and allow the $5.2-billion Tampakan copper-gold project to proceed by 2012. Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI) made the statement as its petition to withdraw the ban – which former South Cotabato governor Daisy Fuentes imposed last year – has moved up to the provincial council’s final review. The current governor of South Cotabato, Arthur Pingoy, told Reuters last week that a review of the ban is possible, but with a slim chance it would be overturned. "It will be up to the provincial board whether to review it. While I was among those who proposed a review and believe that the code should be fine-tuned, I belong to the minority," Pingoy told Reuters by phone. Environment issues The Tampakan project, which involves one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits, is hounded by environmental issues. Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of the Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment, said the project may contaminate water resources. He added that the mining site may endanger lives as it sits on a fault line. SMI spokesperson John Arnaldo had earlier said the firm has been conducting environment and social impact assessments for the Tampakan project. "This assessment has been costing us much to address the concerns of all the stakeholders, whether it concerns health, social, or environmental issues," Arnaldo said in an earlier interview with GMA News Online. More support Arnaldo said tribal groups and municipal governments have also thrown in their support for the company’s operations. "Years back, we were not so keen on allowing mining companies in our lands. Our good relationship with SMI erased our doubts," said B’laan tribe chieftain Juanito Malid said in a separate interview. SMI has committed employment and housing support for those that the company’s mining operations will dislocate, Malid added. The company’s operations will affect more or less 13,000 B’laan tribe members. SMI said it has increased the community development fund to P2 million from P1 million annually, to support livelihood and education for the tribe. Bautista, meanwhile, denounced the SMI's pronouncement as “a pressure statement to the provincial government." He said that as far as he knows, members of the provincial government continue to put their feet down on the open-pit mining ban. “Malakas pa rin ang pagtutol ng mga mamamayan ng South Cotabato (The people of South Cotabato continue to strongly condemn this)," he added. The SMI said that in the 20-year life of the project, it stands to deliver as much as $5 billion in taxes to the Philippine government and $300 million to indigenous communities and barangays. Environment groups have urged President Benigno Aquino III to shut down the Tampakan mining project, saying mining companies like SMI have failed to deliver on their promises of investments, tax revenue, and employment. — With Paterno Esmaquel II/KBK, GMA News