Mining firms see more gold at Tampakan

The logo of the Anglo-Swiss mining company Xstrata at the company headquarters in Zug. AFP FILE PHOTO/Fabrice Coffrini

The $5.9 billion Tampakan copper-gold project in Mindanao contains more mineral resources than previously thought, said Indophil Resources NL of Australia, citing a report from Xstrata Copper.

The Australian miner holds a 37.5-percent interest in the project, while the Swiss-led Xstrata Copper holds the majority stake and is managing the project.

The estimated total mineral resources at Tampakan have now been pegged at 2.94 billion tons, up from the initial estimate of 2.49 billion tons.

This represents a tonnage increase of 18 percent over the previously reported estimate submitted in October 2009, Indophil said.

Xstrata Copper described the new set of figures to be a “significant increase.”

On the basis of the new information, copper at Tampakan is estimated at 15 million tons, up from the previous 13.9 million tons. Also, the mining site is now said to contain 17.9 million ounces of gold, higher than the previous estimate of 16.2 million ounces.

Commercial operation of the Tampakan project, which straddles the municipality of Tampakan in South Cotabato, Kiblawan in Davao del Sur, and Columbio in Sultan Kudarat, is set to start in 2016.

Sagittarius Mines Inc., a unit of Xstrata Copper, is in the process of trying to get an environmental compliance certificate for the Tampakan project.

SMI’s initial certificate application, following local consultations, got rejected at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources due to a ban on open pit mining in South Cotabato – one of the host provinces of the project.

SMI has submitted an appeal regarding the decision.

Industry groups such as the Chamber of Mines, as well as the indigenous tribe that will host the main project area, have all expressed their frustration over the ECC rejection.

In a statement, Tampakan South Cotabato municipal tribal chieftain Bae Dalena Samling conveyed her tribe’s disappointment to Environment Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje.

“We were consulted, we studied the project, and we expressed our support because we believe the project will uplift our living conditions. Now it seems we were not heard at all,” Samling said. “Our fear now is illegal small-scale [miners may] take over the project and this will create more problems for us, the environment and the community.”

Samling is tribal head of the indigenous Blaans, host tribe to the proposed Tampakan copper-gold project.

Paje has assured tribal elders that the government was still supportive of the Tampakan project.

However, he said, the open pit ban issue must still be resolved to ensure that the terms covered in the ECC, such as those that deal with the proposed open-pit mining method, would be implemented.