PAGADIAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 25, 2012) – Mining firm TVI Resource Development (Phils.) Incorporated on Thursday praised Philippine authorities for stopping the rampant illegal mining operations in the town of Bayog in the southern Zamboanga del Sur province.
Lawyer Eugene Mateo, TVIRD president, lauded the provincial police force and the National Bureau of Investigation for the peaceful and swift implementation of the “cease and desist” order on illegal mining activities in Balabag Hill, where the company is operating.
“It was a swift implementation of the order. Nevertheless, rights of people were given utmost consideration by our law enforcers that resulted in a diplomatic and peaceful operation,” Mateo said.
He commended the multi-agency group led by the Zamboanga del Sur provincial government, the Bayog municipal government, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau and Environmental Management Bureau for putting a stop to illegal activities by miners who are members of the Monte de Oro Small Scale Miners Association.
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau issued the cease and desist order in April this year.
“The implementation of the stoppage order is a victory for the rule of law as it will put to end the regime of illegal mining which have continuously defied national and local laws by engaging in mineral theft, wanton disregard of environmental laws, tax evasion, child labor, criminality, unprovoked violence, and lawlessness,” Mateo said, adding the government’s decisive action will stop the environmentally-destructive methods and practices of illegal miners.
The illegal miners use cyanide, mercury and nitric acid in their outlawed gold processing plants in Balabag, where TVIRD has a Mineral Production Sharing Agreement with the government.
MPSA is an agreement between a TVIRD and the Philippine government wherein the firm is granted exclusive right to conduct mining operations within Balabag.
Authorities said it shut down a total of 13 carbon-in-pulp plants and 17 rod mills.
Carbon-in-pulp is a continuous process that uses activated carbon in a cascade of large agitated tanks, which have been widely used to recover or concentrate precious metals in
gold extraction plants.
TVIRD is the Philippine affiliate of Canadian mining company TVI Pacific Incorporated. (Mindanao Examiner)
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