Metex Mineral Resources Corp., a 70 percent foreign-owned mining firm, was recently granted a permit by the government to mine gold and copper deposits in at least six villages in the mountain towns of Quezon and Kayapa.
Engineer Jerrysal Mangaoang, Cagayan Valley director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, confirmed that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has granted a permit to Metex through its Philippine subsidiary, the Filminera Christian Mining and Filipino-American Resources.
The DENR permit covers 4,536 hectares of land in the villages of Runruno in Quezon and Cabanglasan, Pingkian, Baan, Acacia and San Fabian in Kayapa, all believed to have rich deposits of gold, copper and silver.
The permit allows Metex to conduct exploration in these villages for two years, renewable for another two years "but not to exceed eight years."
Mangaoang said the permit is limited only to research, field camp construction, geological mapping and sampling, geophysical and topographical surveys and drilling within the areas covered.
He said Metex is still required to obtain an environmental compliance certificate from the DENR before it begins its exploration.
The Metex permit was granted even as local anti-mining advocates, led by the Catholic Church, have been opposing the entry of any form of large-scale mining in the province.
The anti-mining groups earlier had criticized the provincial board for endorsing the mining venture of the Australian-owned Climax Arimco Mining Corp. (CAMC) in Barangay Didipio, Kasibu town.
Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Michael Defensor approved the CAMC project last September.
After more than 10 years of exploration and research, the CAMC is slated to fully operate in gold and copper-rich Barangay Didipio in January next year.
Dominated by indigenous tribes, Didipio is nestled in the remote mountain boundary of Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino.
Its Dinkidi Hill, the center of CAMC’s 15-year mining project, is believed to have gold and copper deposits worth at least P30 billion.
Two other foreign firms — Red Earth Mining Corp. and Oxiana Philippines Mining Corp. — still have pending applications for mineral explorations in the villages of Kongkong Valley and Muta Valley, both in Kasibu town.