BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—With the recent declaration of stoppage by OceanaGold of its open pit operations in Didipio village, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau said it has stepped in and is now focused on the company's open-pit rehabilitation plan.
Mario Ancheta, MGB Region 2 (Cagayan Valley) director, said the Bureau's move is also in response to the municipal government of Kasibu town calling on the national government to order the rehabilitation of the company's gold-copper mine site in Didipio village.
Earlier, the Kasibu town officials also made the call for the open-pit rehabilitation as soon as the operation was ordered suspended by then Secretary Regina Lopez of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The suspension was lifted after the company filed its appeal with the DENR.
MGB officials said that while the Bureau has been continuously and stringently monitoring the Didipio mine's ongoing preliminary rehabilitation, they will look into the company's rehabilitation plan which should have started when the company has stopped its open-pit operation while shifting to tunnel mining.
“We will assess whether or not under its mine-rehabilitation plan, the company is now supposed to undertake rehabilitation of the area at this time," Ancheta said.
He said they will also monitor whether or not the company is continually complying in its obligation to make deposits for the mine-rehabilitation fund.
In a resolution, the MGB was asked by the Kasibu town council to direct OceanaGold Philippines Inc. to repair a “gaping crater-like pit” in Didipio village.
It also cited the Mining Act of 1995 which mandates mining firm to undertake rehabilitation of “excavated, mined out, tailings covered and disturbed areas."
The resolution also said: "The town government believes that [OceanaGold] should have already started rehabilitating the said open pit."
Mayor Chito Bumolo of Kasibu town said they have yet to see a concrete rehabilitation plan of OceanaGold once it ceases its operations in Didipio.
"We have yet to know what they intend to do with the mine site once they leave, and whether their rehabilitation plan, if any, is acceptable to the communities affected," Bumolo said.
In 2013, after two decades of explorations and preparations, OceanaGold has started commercial operations which necessarily flattened what was then Dinkidi Hill and dug up an open pit in Didipio. This has caused some concern among local officials, some villagers and environment groups.
In a telephone interview, however, Ramoncito Gozar, OceanaGold senior vice president for communications and external affairs, said “rehabilitation and closure planning is an integral consideration of the company's [Didipio] operations."
“We know the risks in rehabilitating and closing an operating mine and we intend to minimize these risks as far as possible by working closely with our regulators and the community,” Gozar said.
