Mining firms seek ‘real’ dialog on issues

Published Date: January 27, 2012

Tags: Environment, mining

Mining firms seek ‘real’ dialog on issues thumbnail

A pro-mining rally

MINING investments in the Philippines for the period 2011 to 2016 could reach $20 billion, of which some $12.6 billion will flow into Mindanao, the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) said in a statement Thursday.

At the same time, COMP called on various sectors to allow legitimate mining industry members to participate in mining forums in order to have a “real” multi-stakeholder dialog and address issues concerning the industry.

COMP said that Mindanao has the biggest resources and reserves inventory in the country of copper at five billion tons, gold at 3.4 billion tons, aluminum at 292 million tons and iron at 411 million tons.

COMP vice president for communications Rocky G. Dimaculangan noted that COMP member-companies, particularly those operating in Mindanao, wanted to tap the mining potential in the area with the “responsible mining” principles that the group continually advocated.

“Mining projects are great vehicles for progress,” Dimaculangan said. “To achieve that, we are reaching out to all the mining industry stakeholders and concerned sectors for more open and closer communication channels to discuss how we can all help [the] government in moving toward development that is grounded on social equity and environmental protection.”

COMP earlier said that despite repeated requests from the industry, representatives of legitimate mining industry operators were excluded from the ongoing 2012 International Conference on Mining in Mindanao hosted by the Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU) and the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines.

AdDu president Fr. Joel Tabora said they did not invite mining corporations in the two-day event simply because they do not want their presence.

Tabora admitted having received requests from mining companies, including Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI), to attend the conference but the organizers turned them down.

He said he sees no reason for foreign-backed mining company to join the conference.

“I have been receiving calls, texts messages about their intentions but I told them no,” Tabora said.

Tabora said educating the public on what they need to know about mining projects is one of the steps to counter mining giants in Mindanao.

Foreign scientists and researches on mining graced the conference along with representatives from the private and public sectors.

Report from Inquirer.Net and Sun.Star

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