South Cotabato multi-sector illegal mining campaign intensified

COTABATO CITY — Government officials and the local communities have intensified their crackdown on small-scale illegal copper and gold mining in Blaan tribal domains in Tampakan, South Cotabato.

Radio reports in Central Mindanao cities on Monday, May 19, stated that the provincial government of Cotabato, under reelected Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr., the Department of Environment and Natural Resources 12, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau 12, the Police Regional Office 12 and Blaan tribal councils in the province are cooperating in addressing the problem.

Tamayo said the mining firm contracted by the national government to operate the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project in Tampakan, near the provincial capital, Koronadal City, has not yet operated. He said that the focus of their multi-sector, inter-agency initiatives is to address the ongoing clandestine small-scale illegal mining activities in the area.

Tamayo was referring to Sagittarius Mines Incorporated (SMI), which Malacañang has permitted to begin copper and gold mining operations in Tampakan, possibly by 2026.

Blaan tribal leaders in Tampakan signed a free and prior consent for the SMI to mine the copper and gold deposits in their ancestral lands in the municipality.

Experts from the DENR central office and geologists from Europe had placed their estimate of the copper and gold deposits in Tampakan at at least US$ 200 billion based on actual extensive studies done with the help of the local ethnic Blaan communities.

Engineer Efren Carido, director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau 12, ranking officials of the DENR-12 and Brig. Gen. Arnold Ardiente, director of the Police Regional Office 12, vowed to flex the powers of their respective offices in helping South Cotabato’s provincial government stop all small-scale illegal mining activities in the mineral-rich Tampakan town.