Open pit mining ban row seen resolved in favor of mining firms

MANILA, Philippines – The National Development Corp. (Nadecor) has expressed strong hopes that the open pit mining ban controversy in South Cotabato will soon be resolved in favor of the mining company.

Nadecor holds the mineral processing and sharing agreement for the Kingking mines in Compostela Valley, Mindanao.

Nadecor financial consultant Raymond Ricafort says he is perplexed at the South Cotabato provincial council’s passage of the open pit mining ban in their province when there are already existing open pit mining operations for coal and cement, including the soon to start coal mining operations of San Miguel Corp.

Furthermore, Ricafort said South Cotabato already has a lot of small-scale miners who completely disregard environmental protection procredures.

On the other hand, Ricafort said, having big mining firms ensures strict environmental compliance, even financial allocation for their environment and rehabilitation programs.

He said reputable international mining firms, are “bankable” and can be sued if they do any damage to the environment, unlike small-scale miners which are often not accountable for toxic activities such as the use of mercury to extract gold.

Ricafort also pointed out that Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI) and its principal foreign investors — Xstrata – will be investing $5.2 billion on Tampakan project which is three to four times the country’s annual foreign direct investments (FDI) of only $1.2 billiion per year..

He said the amount does not include additional investments for various activities that would include housing, services, education, to name a few.

According to Ricafort, the local government also stands to earn significant revenues not only from SMI but from an increase in employment and services generated by collateral activities.

A rough computation based on a $2 billion a year investment by SMI, Ricafort said, would generate about P500 million in revenues for the South Cotabato provincial government based on their mandated two percent share

This early, Ricafort said, a lot of local investors are already snapping up real estate around the area in anticipation of increased economic activity.