Apex to contest North Davao Mining’s FTAA bid for Compostela mining project

Publicly-listed firm Apex Mining Co. said it is prepared to exhaust all legal options to ensure that North Davao Mining Corp.’s application for a financial and technical assistance agreement (FTAA) covering a mining site in Compostela Valley would not be implemented.

In a statement, Apex said it was ready to go all the way to the Supreme Court to stop the implementation of a ruling by a regional panel of arbitrators of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, upholding a claim by NDMC.

Apex is controlled by Canada’s Crew Gold Corp.

In its motion for reconsideration, Apex said NDMC’s application for a FTAA should not be approved because it is "not based on valid and existing mining claims."

Apex alleged that its mining claims in Compostela Valley overlap with that of NDMC. The case has been pending with the Mines and Geosciences Bureau’s regional arbitration panel since 1998.

"We have a strong case and are determined to take this all the way to Supreme Court, no matter how long this might drag," Apex said. "This judicial mistake will only prolong the already tedious and long-delayed process to return NDMC to the private sector because we will definitely exhaust all legal remedies to protect our interest."

Crew Gold, which owns 40 percent of the shares sold by the Puyat family in Apex, earlier offered to buy NDMC from the government but was advised to participate in a bidding to be handled by state-owned Natural Resources Mining and Development Corp.

Despite previous pronouncements of NRMDC that it was preparing to bid out the property, there had been no signs this would happen anytime soon.

In its motion, Apex said NDMC’s claims violated the law that categorically says a mining claim must have tie points, or permanent markers, to clearly delineate its boundaries and prevent overlaps and conflicts.

Apex also alleged that NDMC is claiming mining land that was not transferred to it by its registered claimants, had been abandoned, or automatically lapsed.

Moreover, Apex said NDMC’s present claim is much larger than its previous area in violation of existing law.

NDMC was put up by the Elizalde family during the Marcos regime.

Apex said it is a natural fit with NDMC because of its existing brand-new processing plant and other mining and processing facilities and its willingness to invest more and take the risk even in the absence of a definitive survey on whether or not NDMC still has viable reserves left.

Apex’s principal assets in the Masara and Teresa gold mines in Compostela Valley in southeastern Mindanao are among the most prolific gold belts in the Philippines.