MANILA, Philippines - Government operatives have seized 3,000 metric tons of processed magnetite sand from the port complex of the former Ilocos Norte Mining Co. Inc. (INMC) in Badoc, Ilocos Norte, according to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).
On its website, the MGB said the magnetite sand came from San Vicente town in Ilocos Sur.
MGB director Leo Jasareno earlier said his agency and the National Bureau of Investigation had been conducting surveillance on illegal mining activities in San Vicente but requested that details of the investigation be withheld so as not to preempt the operation.
The INMC was engaged in the quarrying of coralline limestone – a key material used for cement manufacture – which it exported to Taiwan, the MGB said.