Supreme Court upholds Olympic Mines claim over Palawan mine site

The Supreme Court has upheld the claim of Olympic Mines and Development Corp. (Olympic) and its successor-in-interest, Citinickel Mines and Development Corp. over a 2,200-hectare mine site in Palawan, putting an end to a three-year legal battle.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, listed mining holding firm Oriental Peninsula Resources Group Inc., the parent firm of Citinickel, said the High Court’s resolution affirmed earlier rulings of the Court of Appeals (CA) and the Mines Adjudication Board (MAB) against Olympic Mine’s rival claimant Itawes Mining Exploration Co.

Olympic Mines an exploration firm owned by the family of former Central Bank Governor Gregorio Licaros Sr., consolidated ownership of the mine sites in San Isidro, Narra, and Pulot, Espanola (previously owned by its affiliates Atlantic City Exploration, Mondo Exploration, and Toronto Exploration) in 1996.

Nine years later, Itawes filed an application covering the same area of Olympic, which has since transferred its ownership of the mine site to Citinickel.

Despite the swift rejection by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau-DENR Region IV-B, Itawes insisted that Olympic Mines’ mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA) was illegal because the Palawan site was allegedly closed to mining applications since these were still owned by Atlantic, Mondo and Toronto. It also questioned the validity of the transfer of mining rights to Olympic Mines.

The MGB denied the petition of Itawes which also suffered a similar setback at the DENR panel of arbitrators in 2006. Itawes elevated the case to the Court of Appeals which also denied the mine firm’s petition on the ground that the “issues raised in the instant motion are but mere reiterations of the grounds already judiciously evaluated and passed upon.’’

Far from giving up, Itawes raised the issue to the SC which considered its petition “bereft of merit’’.

“We find no compelling reason to modify, let alone, reverse or set aside the assailed decision of the Mines Adjudication Board. Wherefore premises considered, the instant petition for review is hereby denied,’’ said Supreme Court Associate Justice Ramon Garcia concurred by Associate Justices Juan Q. Enriquez Jr. and Isaias P. Dicdican.