Employees of 20 mining companies that were recommended for suspension will keep their jobs for the moment, Environment Secretary Regina Lopez said Tuesday.
Lopez, in a meeting with mining executives, assured that workers would not end up unemployed, as they would be used in the rehabilitation of mine sites, which was one of the conditions imposed by the Environment Department.
Lopez said the goal was to make sure that workers would continue to work despite the suspension of mining operations.
“No, they won’t be [unemployed]… A part of the directive, should there be suspension, is that they [mining companies] must hire those people to rehabilitate the mining sites,” Lopez said.
Lopez met with executives of mining companies to propose a viable sustainable livelihood program that would benefit the communities where their projects operate.
Lopez said they could also tap the displaced mine workers for the National Greening Program, the government’s massive forest rehabilitation initiative that doubles as an anti-poverty measure due to its cash-for-work component.
The government earlier announced that only 11 of the 41 metallic mines in the country passed the mining audit.
Environment Undersecretary and head of the mining audit Leo Jasareno assured the companies would be given due process.
Mining companies expressed confidence shutdowns could be avoided as they raced to remedy problems flagged in the nationwide checkup.
Nickel Asia Corp. said its Hinatuan Mining Corp. unit, among those slated for closure unless it fixes shortcomings, remained in operation a week after the audit’s findings and it’s expected to stay that way, according to a statement on Tuesday.
Separately, OceanaGold Corp. said its Didipio copper-gold mine is also still in business and talks with officials have been constructive.
“I am highly confident that our Didipio operations will continue to operate without interruption,” OceanaGold president and chief executive Mick Wilkes said in an exchange release on Tuesday. Talks include discussions with Environment Secretary Gina Lopez, who’s led the checkup, and the company said it was sticking with full-year production guidance for the site.
The Philippine government said last week that three-quarters of the nation’s mines fell short in the audit ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte, with 20 mines facing suspension on top of 10 already halted.
The prospects of significant interruptions to the flow of minerals, especially nickel ore, has helped to lift prices in a market that already faces a deficit. The country accounts for about a quarter of global mined nickel supply. With Bloomberg
