Aussie firm pins hopes on NV board for gold-copper project

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya — After failing to obtain the endorsement of the municipal council of a mountain town here, the Australian-funded Climax Arimco Mining Corp. (CAMC) is now pinning its hopes on the provincial board for its multibillion-peso gold and copper mining project.

Engineer Arnel Arrojo, director of the CAMC project in remote Didipio village in Kasibu, expressed hope that the Sangguniang Panlalawigan would endorse the venture despite the earlier rejection they got from the Kasibu municipal council.

"Hopefully, we will obtain a favorable action from the provincial board. We hope they will endorse the project," said Arrojo.

He said the CAMC will formally submit its request for endorsement to the 13-member provincial board anytime this coming week.

Last Monday, the Kasibu council, voting 6-4, denied CAMC’s request for endorsement of its Didipio gold-copper mining project, a move seen as a major victory for local anti-mining advocates led by the Catholic Church in their bid to block the entry of any form of large-scale mining project in this mineral-rich province.

Despite the rejection, businessman Jose Leviste, CAMC Philippines chairman, is confident that their venture would get the nod of the provincial board led by Vice Gov. Jose Gambito.

Gambito, along with board members Patricio Dumlao and Edu Balgos, earlier expressed their support for the CAMC project.

Gambito believes that majority of his colleagues in the provincial board share the same sentiments.

Dominated by indigenous tribes, Didipio, a village located in the remote mountain boundary of Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino, is about four hours from the capital town of Bayombong through rugged and slippery mountain roads.

Didipio’s Dinkidi Hill, the center of the proposed mine operation, is believed to have gold and copper deposits worth at least P30 billion, which are to be mined for 15 years if the project pushes through.

The CAMC has to get two of the three required endorsements — from the Didipio barangay council, the Kasibu municipal council and the provincial board — for it to obtain a full operation permit from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Earlier, Arrojo said the CAMC has already obtained the endorsement of Didipio communities.

In 2001, then DENR Secretary Heherson Alvarez suspended CAMC’s environment compliance certificate in the wake of the Church-led opposition to the project.