DENR urged to strictly implement 'use it or lose it' policy on mineral tenements

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) should strictly implement its “use it or lose it” policy on mineral tenements, according to National Development Corp. (Nadecor) financial consultant Raymond Ricafort.

While the DENR has a time allowance for mining firms to start operations after securing the necessary exploration permits – mineral processing and sharing agreements (MPSA) – it has been very lenient in imposing compliance to the time limit, Ricafort noted.

Instead, he said the DENR has agreed to repeated renewals of the permit even though the tenement holders have not shown any significant progress in their tenements.

According to Ricafort, strict implementation of the “use it or lose it” policy would greatly help the mining sector, ensuring that those who secure mining tenements really intend to operate and develop their projects, instead of merely engaging in landbanking.

Several DENR heads – from Angelo Reyes to Jose Atienza, Eleazar Quinto and Horacio Ramos – had made pronouncements on strictly implementing the policy but to no avail since their terms were all cut short.

At present, Ricafort pointed out some firms secure mining tenements either for landbanking or speculation.

Ricafort said such practice has caused the mining sector to lose out on global uptrends in mineral prices because there is actually no productive operations.

Nadecor, itself, has been a victim of the failure of the DENR to strictly enforce the “use it or lose it” policy following the refusal of its estranged partner Benguet Corp. to develop the joint Kingking project in Compostela Valley in Mindanao.