Varela, who personally toured the project last week, said in a statement that the Catholic Church is not against mining itself but is opposed to irresponsible mining.
He added that he wanted to find out for himself if the objections of anti-mining groups to Lafayette’s continued operations are valid or not.
"If the risks of mining in Rapu-Rapu can be avoided or substantially mitigated while the benefits can be palpably felt by its affected communities, then the company, under its new Filipino management, must be given a chance to conduct responsible mining, otherwise it should be closed down," Varela said.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) recently allowed the test-run so the company can test if its corrective measures run properly before it is allowed to resume mining operations.
The three-stage test-run first involved the circulation of water into the system to test for leakages.
This stage of testing had been completed and last Tuesday, the DENR issued an order confirming that the project had fully complied with all the requirements of the first stage of testing and can proceed to the second stage which involves the processing of non-ore bearing materials to test the electromechanical systems.
Lafayette said it is confident that the project will successfully complete the second stage within the allocated period of nine days and in due course, receive authorization to proceed with the third stage, which would involve the use of ore-bearing materials and chemical reagents.
On full operations, the project will employ about 900 people on top of the thousands of additional jobs that would be generated by support businesses it would spawn.
The project is also expected to spend about P320 million each year largely for supplies from Albay and Sorsogon, making it the single biggest growth driver in the area.
The new management team under Carlos Dominguez took over the project in mid-January following government sanctions for spills involving process water in October.
Dominguez, chairman and president of Lafayette Phils. Inc., had promised the host communities that the project would be a model of responsible mining.
Meanwhile, environmental groups led by the Kalikasan People’s Network and Center for Environmental Concerns filed a petition with the Makati City regional trial court yesterday seeking a temporary restraining order and permanent injunction against the Rapu-Rapu project, which they claimed would cause irreparable damage to the environment.
Joining the petition were the Pambansang Kilusan ng Pamamalakaya ng Pilipinas, Religious Missionary Association of the Philippines, People’s Network for the Environment, folk singers Gary Granada and Chikoy Pura, actress Chin-Chin Gutierrez, and beauty queen Miriam Quiambao. — With Rhodina Villanueva