Days after Environment Chief Roy A. Cimatu called out mining companies to pull themselves together and get with the new mining regulations, Marcventures Mining and Development Corporation (MMDC) released a statement that only 4.1 percent of the 4,799-hectare tenement has been used for its mining operations since the third quarter of 2017.
The Marcventures (MHI) subsidiary currently operates in Pili, Sipangpang, and Cabangahan – together, they sum up to 198.06 hectares of the large-scale mining area.
However, if taken into account mine stockyards, haulage road, settling ponds, and campsite, MMDC’s active site is 5.4 percent of its acquired tenement.
Moreover, MMDC maintained a 95.3 percent of undisturbed area of its Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) in its homegrown areas in Surigao del Sur towns of Carrascal, Cantilan, and Madrid.
Earlier, Cimatu addressed the persistent negative public perception towards mining activities and how it’s the mining sector’s responsibility to reverse the situation through promoting responsible mining.
The government is expected to provide a new set of guidelines on limiting the number of mining areas, especially nickel and open-pit mines.
“We are creating a new guideline for surface mines, especially nickel mines or surface open-pit mines, to try to limit the actual area that is being mined out at any time. Now, mining companies can just work anywhere within their mine sites,” Wilfredo Moncano, director of Mines and Geosciences Bureau, said.
Wilfredo added that only within 81 hectares of their contract area miners are allowed to operate before they move on to another portion of their mine site.
As of 2015, MHI has delineated a total of 1,225 hectares as no-mining zones, which comprise of critical water bodies and ecologically-sensitive areas.
The nickel miner is also one of the few miners with environmentally forward strategies such as re-vegetation and regeneration of the natural ecosystem.
In 2012, subsidiary MMDC has rehabilitated 188.65 hectares of its total mining area.
Source: Manila Bulletin
