MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives is set to deliberate on a bill seeking to stop the exportation of magnetite sand or black sand as raw material, and let the processing of the same into high-value products be done in the country to generate billions of pesos in revenues
The measure to be the subject of public hearings is House Bill 4760 authored by Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez, the leader of the Visayas bloc.
Benitez said mining companies engaged in magnetite sand extraction in Northern Luzon and in other areas of the country with large deposits of the so-called black sand had been reaping huge profits.
However, the Philippines is actually losing billions of dollars annually as a result of huge difference between the cheap export price of magnetite sand as raw materials and the expensive cost of processed products the country imports using the same raw materials from extracted from the country, he said.
“We are also losing more in terms of unrealized potential revenues that could be derived from the production of high-value products if we shall undertake the advance processing of magnetite sand in the Philippines rather than merely exporting it as raw material,” Benitez said.
The measure seeks to prohibit the export of magnetite sand as raw material to other countries and to require all magnetite mining companies to individually or collectively establish or rent magnetite advance processing plants in the provinces where they are actually conducting extraction/mining operations of magnetite sand.
“Only final marketable forms of the magnetite sand-based products should be allowed for export,” he said.
Magnetite sand, commonly known as black sand, refers to the black colored sand with high concentration of magnetite, which is a magnetic and very dense mineral iron.
He said the passage of the bill will not only “create jobs and catalyse economic development in the affected areas where the valuable natural resource is being tapped but shall likewise reduce the volume of extraction to ecologically sustainable levels, pre-empting the adverse environmental impact of mining operations.”
“Notwithstanding the current disadvantageous situation wherein the country has not been able to greatly benefit from the exploitation of its abundant magnetite sand resources, the tremendous economic gains that can be derived from it cannot be ignored,” Benitez said.
The lawmaker cited the assertion of Manuel Banaag, chief of the Mineral Economics Division of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, that “mining magnetite, also known as black sand, has the potential of boosting the country’s mineral sector, create more jobs and start the local steel industry rolling.”
He said such a favorable situation can only be achieved if the national government could muster the political will to require the establishment of steel manufacturing plants and/or advance processing facilities for magnetite sand in the country.
“This will significantly lessen our dependency on imported steel which translates to more infra-structure projects all over the country,” Benitez said.