Diwalwal tribes ready for large-scale mining, says mine firm

MANILA, Philippines—Four indigenous peoples (IP) groups in charge of the tribal mineral areas in and around the gold-rich Diwalwal Mineral Reservation have agreed to strike a partnership with Jake Mining Co. for joint exploration, its president and CEO said.

Eric Tagle said that in effect, the IPs have withdrawn support from small-scale mining since this has not improved their lot in the 30 years that illegal operators have dug up gold in Diwalwal in the Compostela Valley province in Mindanao.

Tagle said the indigenous groups’ partnership with Jake Mining Co. could bring order and prosperity and end the “Wild Wild West” type of violence in Diwalwal.

Jake Mining will serve as the indigenous groups’ investor and sole mining partner, according to Tagle.

Last May, Jake Mining announced that it had signed a memorandum of agreement with the unified IPs in Diwalwal (Mandaya, Manobo, Mangguangan and Dibabawon), which have exercised their ancestral claim over areas of the Diwalwal Mineral Reservation and have signed a historic declaration of unity.

Jake Mining is the “successor in interest” of publicly listed Apex Mining Co., which held the Diwalwal claim in the 1980s.

Aside from the four IP groups in charge of the Tribal Mining Areas, or Trimas, in Diwalwal, Tagle said other tribes in and around Diwalwal have agreed to fully support the exploration of the mine site, as well as to oppose the operation of haphazard small-scale mining.

Tagle issued the statement in reaction to a statement by a former local official and small-scale mining operator, Tito Franco, who called on the government to legalize small-scale mining in Diwalwal or there’d be fighting reminiscent of the “Wild, Wild West” gold rush.

“The fact is that the tribal groups in and around Diwalwal have forged a historic declaration of unity in which they agreed to end their conflicts so they can jointly explore and develop Diwalwal’s Trimas,” said Tagle.

Tagle also stressed that Jake Mining would be willing to work with other small-scale miners if the latter were willing to become partners in a large-scale operation. This way, Tagle said, development at Diwalwal would be orderly, well-planned, and in accordance with Philippine laws.

National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) chairman Roque N. Agton Jr. witnessed the signing of the unity declaration by the Mandaya, Manobo, Mangguangan and Dibabawon tribes who have ancestral claims over areas of the Diwalwal mineral reservation.

Likewise, the tribal leaders have issued a resolution dated April 27, 2011, unanimously selecting Jake Mining as their only investor and mining partner in Trima 1 and 2.

Tagle said that the government, which has been enticing foreign mining investors to invest in the Philippines, would not take sitting down any veiled threat of lawlessness.

He added that potential investors, including listed firms based in China, Canada, Australia, the United States and Singapore must be assured by the government about security, the honoring of contracts, good governance and the prevention of corruption.

Exploration and development costs of the 950-hectare mining area, which covered only about a tenth of Diwalwal’s mineral reservation, were initially estimated at $1 billion to $2 billion, said Tagle.

Jake Mining secured the approval of all four tribes in accordance with the law, Tagle said. For years, the tribes have been at odds with one another, and it was only recently that they agreed to work together.