Singapore 11/07/2016 - The Philippines has made official its audit of all operating mines in the country while suspending the approval of new mining projects in the country.
In a notice dated July 8, the country’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) ordered an audit of all operating mines and a moratorium on the approval of new mining projects effective immediately.
This is in line with the pronouncement on responsible mining by President Rodrigo Duterte that “there will be a comprehensive review of the mining claims of concessions given”, the DENR said.
The Philippines’ new mining minister Regina Lopez – a known environmentalist – had said in early July that a review on all mining operations will be conducted for a month in the country.
The review will encompass all operating mines and mines under suspension and/or care-and-maintenance, while the moratorium will cover the acceptance, processing and/or approval of mining applications and/or new mining projects for all metallic and non-metallic minerals, the DENR said.
The audit of mining operations in the country is to determine the adequacy and efficiency of the environmental protection measures of each mining operation, identify gaps in environmental protection measures and determine the appropriate penalties in case of violations of mining and environmental laws, it added.
Mine audit teams will be created in every region in the country and they will start to audit all mining operations and submit the relevant reports to the Department Secretary within one month of receipt of the order.
The order takes effect immediately and remains in force until formally terminated, the notice said.
The mining rhetoric in the Philippines since Duterte was elected President in May, had helped support global nickel prices. The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price had touched $10,410 on July 4 - its highest in more than eight months and up nearly 40 percent than the 2016 low of $7,550 hit in February.
The price reached as high as $10,180 per tonne on Monday morning during Asian trading hours on Select – it was last at $10,105, up $225 from Friday’s close.
While fears of mining disruptions in the Philippines may support nickel prices in the near-term, market participants reckoned improved fundamentals - via more production cuts, better demand and/or a decline in stocks – are needed for nickel to trek higher.
The impact on nickel ore supply from the review will not be substantial, Beijing Antaike said earlier this month. The mining operation review will reduce the Philippines’ nickel ore exports to China by only 1.5 million wet tonnes in 2016 - in contrast, China imported 34.27 million wet tonnes of nickel ore from the Philippines, the Chinese metals research firm noted.
The Philippines became China's largest source of nickel ore after Indonesia banned the export of unprocessed ore in 2014.
Late last week, the DENR suspended two nickel mining firms in Zambales province – Zambales Diversifed Metals Corp and Benguet Corp Nickel Mines following allegations of violations of the country’s mining and environmental laws.
With the latest suspension order, all four large-scale mining operations in Zambales are now suspended, according to a Saturday statement from the DENR.
In June, the Philippine Supreme Court had issued environmental protection orders against five mining firms in Zambales.