DENR unit seeks proposals for 6 mining tenements

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Mining Development Corp. (PMDC) is seeking proposals for a joint operating agreement for the exploration, development and operation of six mining tenements.

The six mining tenements are:

• the 213-hectare Paracale gold property located in Paracale, Camarines Norte;

• the 84.58-hectare Opol gold property located in Misamis Oriental;

• the 27-hectare Opol chromite property located in Barrio Awang, Opol, Misamis Oriental;

• the 240-hectare Lagonoy chromite property located in Lagonoy, Camarines Sur;

• the 115-hectare Talibon silica property located in Talibon, Bohol, and

• the 3,100-hectare Guihulngan limestone property located in La Libertad and Guihulngan, Negros Oriental.

The PMDC will hold a bidding for the six properties on May 11 this year. It will hold a pre-bidding conference on April 26.

The PMDC, a unit of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, is responsible for bidding out to interest corporations cancelled tenements.

The DENR is cleansing all pending and inactive mining projects nationwide as it implements a “use it or lose it” policy intended to ensure that only investors/or mining firms that are serious about operating the tenement actually secure such properties.

In the past, prospectors merely held on to the mining properties for speculation.

As of Feb, the DENR-Mines and Geosciences Bureau had 2,180 pending mining tenement applications.

The MGB has temporarily stopped accepting applications for all mining permits.

With the DENR’s cleansing process, the government hopes to boost the mining sector with operating projects that will result in revenues for the local governments, the National Government and stimulate economic activity.

Because of high metal prices, metallic mineral production value last year increased 39 percent to P111 billion.