MINA backs drive to develop mineral sector

The Mindanao Association for Mineral Industries Inc. (MINA) led by its president Edgar Martinez has expressed support for "the development of a vibrant and sustainable mineral resource industry for a progressive Philippines."

MINA is one of the signatories to an advertisement recently put out by the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines in the national press. Led by the Chamber of Mines, others which expressed support are the Federation of Non-Metallic Aggregate Producers, Geological Society of the Philippines, Marble Association of the Philippines, Mindanao Association of Mining Engineering Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association, Philippine Minerals Development Institute Foundation Inc., Philippine Minerals Exploration Association, Philippine Society of Mining Engineers, Society of Metallurgical Engineers of the Philippines, Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau-DENR, National Mines and Allied Workers Union (NAMAWU) and the APSOTEU-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).

According to the Chamber of Mines advertisement, "in a country so blessed with minerals and crying out for development, the call for the repeal of the 1995 Mining Act and the banning of large-scale mining is ridiculous and tantamount to economic sabotage. No other mineralized country in the world has done this. The future of our country and of generations to come cannot be held hostage by obsolete ideologies and pseudo-economists with narrow-minded self-interests."

This announcement was in reaction to a news report, "NGOs Launch Anti-Mining Campaign.

Established in 1998, MINA is a minerals industry association mandated by its members to promote greater understanding of the benefits of mineral exploration and development initially in Region XI and now more widely throughout Mindanao and internationally.

Members include Alsons Development Corp., Apex Mining, Benguet Corp., Union Cement Corp., First Pacific Mining Corp., Loyalty Mining and Development Corp., Pantukan Minerals Corp., Philco Mining Corp., Southeast Mindanao Gold Mining Corp., Tampakan Sagittarius Mines, Western Mining Corp., JB Mining and Management Corp., and TVI Resources Phils. Inc.