SMI to appeal gov’t decision on ECC application

Sagittarius Mines Inc. officials said Thursday that the company was exploring its options in its quest to obtain an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) for the $5.9-billion Tampakan copper-gold project in Mindanao.

SMI president Peter Forrestal told reporters at a Chamber of Mines forum in Pasay City that the company was appealing the government’s recent rejection of its ECC application. The company has the option to appeal to the president or go to court.

In a separate interview, SMI communications manager John B. Arnaldo said the company could submit another appeal in case the present one does not result positively for SMI. “A court action is an option but not our preferred option at this time. We will exhaust the appeal process,” he said.

In SMI’s understanding, Arnaldo said, the ECC application did not need endorsement from any national agency or any local government unit. “We did submit a very good EIS (environmental impact statement), which is supposed to be the basis in granting the ECC,” he said.

In January 2012, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources rejected SMI’s ECC application given the open pit mining ban in South Cotabato.

SMI submitted its ECC application in Oct. 2011.