AT least five mining companies are seeking refuge from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority in an attempt to salvage what was left of their mining operations after the Environment Department suspended their mining permits.
Peza director general Charito Plaza said the mining firms have approached her individually on different occasions but all have been asking the prospects of registering their operations with Peza.
“I told them to put up plants. It is not the mining area or operations that we register but the processing plants. Mning operations alone is not enough to give them accreditation,” she said in a briefing Tuesday during the announcement of the proposed P125-billion Greater Lucena Integrated Economic Zone Project.
Currently, there are two mining companies registered with the Peza. These are the Taganito HPAL project of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. and the nickel-cobalt processing plant by Coral Bay Nickel Corp. in Palawan.
Both companies operate processing plants that manufactures and export nickel and mixed nickel-cobalt sulfides to Japan.
Plaza said although she is a pro-mining advocate, she said responsible and sustainable mining as the key to building an industrialized nation.
“We must not be too harsh. I support the action of [Environment] Secretary [Regina] Lopez. However, the Department should have at least given these companies grace period to rectify their mistakes to redeem their operations, even as they have violated environmental rules. They should be given a chance to comply [with Environment regulations],” she said.
Plaza added that the Department should have also considered, before it suspended and close operational mines, the relocation of jobs and the taxes that local government units may lose due closure/suspension order.
Peza is proposing the creation of mining economic zones where miners can register their operations if they have supporting technology to manufacture finished goods for export to the world market.
It is planning to meet with the Environment Department to work out the proposal with considerations on environmental protection and calculate risk, should there be any.
The proposal, Plaza explained, need not amend the mining law, “all we and the Environment Department to do is agree to do it.”
The forum on Greater Lucena Economic Zone is working out financing agreement with the Posco Group of South Korea, the AlloyMtd Group of Malaysia and China Cable Corp.
“We assured the government that it not spend a single centavo for the development of the ecozone,” said Achievement Development Corp. chairman Philip Cea, developer of the proposed Greater Lucena Economic Zone.
The financing requirement will fund the proposed P25-billion international airport component, the P25 billion seaport component and the P75-billion industrial economic zone.
The zone is envisioned to rise on a 1,500-hectares property that straddles seven local government units.