Singapore 05/08/2016 - More mining companies in the Philippines will be suspended this week as the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR) concludes its mining in Mindanao island in the week, environment secretary, Regina Lopez said in a statement.
Since Lopez assumed office on July 1, a total of seven mining firms have already been suspended for not complying with environmental safety standards, the DENR said in the statement published this week.
The companies are BenguetCorp. Nickel Mines, Eramen Minerals, LNL Archipelago Minerals, Zambales Diversified Metals Corp, Hinatuan Mining Corp, Berong Nickel Corp, and Citinickel Mines and Development Corp.
In what could be an eighth miner which has been ordered to halt production, local media on Thursday cited Lopez as saying at a mining forum in Davao City that nickel miner Claver Mineral Development Corp in Surigao in Mindanao – a nickel-rich island in southern Philippines - has been suspended due to the violation of environmental laws.
The Philippines has embarked on a month-long audit of all operating mines in the country since July after Lopez – a known environmentalist – took helm of the DENR.
In news reports carried on the website of the Philippine Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), which operates under the purview of the DENR, Lopez was also cited as saying at the forum that she would initiate a review of the 1995 Philippine Mining Act which allowed 100-percent foreign ownership in the country’s mining sector.
She deemed the Act as ‘treasonous and should not have been passed at all”, the Philippine Inquirer report said.
The mining clampdown in the Philippines has kept nickel prices above $10,000 per tonne since mid-July. Prices had stayed below this level since November last year.
But many had downplayed the impact of the mining disruptions on global nickel supply - the most recent being JP Morgan which said increased shipments from Indonesia, Myanmar and New Caledonia this year will fully offset even the most dramatic estimates of a decline in Philippines nickel ore exports.
The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price was last at $10,600 per tonne on Friday, down $5 from Thursday’s close.