New DENR head to decide next month on Intex ECC

MANILA, Philippines - Acting Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Eleazar P. Quinto said yesterday that he would decide by next month on the temporary suspension of the environment clearance certificate (ECC) of Norwegian mining firm Intex Resources Phils.

Intex Resources operates a nickel mine in the province of Oriental Mindoro.

Former Secretary Jose L. Atienza temporarily suspended in November last year Intex’s ECC following a rally and complaint by alleged affected IPs and NGOs.

Quinto said the DENR conducted a series of consultations with the concerned indigenous peoples (IPs). Initial findings show that the IPs residing near Intex’s mining project actually support Intex, and that the complaining IPs do not reside near the project but actually reside along the shoreline, Quinto said.

He said the DENR will conduct further consultations with other concerned parties such as the local government units (LGUs), the church and other non-government organizations. The DENR will also study the effects of Intex’s activity in a supposedly watershed area, he added.

The watershed is the source of irrigation for some 50,000 hectares of rice fields, which produces about 600,000 metric tons of rice, in the towns of Victoria, Naujan and Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro.

The suspension of its ECC has affected Intex’s $3-billion nickel mining project, which was one of the biggest mining investments that the Mines and Geosciences Bureau was banking on.

The DENR had approved in March last year the application of Intex Resources Phils., for a mineral production sharing agreement for its project in Mindoro Occidental.

Intex plans to invest up to $3 billion on their Mindoro nickel project which will be reconfigured to also produce fertilizer as a by-product of its primary nickel mining and processing project.

Intex said this would help meet the country’s fertilizer requirements. Intex’s move would make its Mindoro project not only the Philippines’ largest and most modern nickel plant with a target production of 40,000 tons per annum of nickel metal, but also the largest fertilizer plant with a production of as much as 200,000 tons a year of ammonium sulphate, a commonly used fertilizer.

Aside from ammonium sulphate, the Mindoro plant would also produce cobalt compounds in the form of sulphates, carbonates, hydroxides and oxides.

A consumer application of cobalt compounds is in the production of rechargeable batteries for cellular phones. In the field of agriculture, cobalt compounds could be blended with fertilizer or used as a dietary supplement for livestock.

The plant would utilize carbon-free energy in producing nickel and by-products such as fertilizer and cobalt compounds.