Petroleum, Mining, and Logging Industries

[dreamtime07]

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Sign the Online Petition
http://www.petitiononline.com/sam2007/petition.html
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To: Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Noli de Castro, the Senate, the House of Representatives, Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza, Minerals Development Corporation Director Heherson Alvarez, Congressman Eleandro Jesus F. Madrona, Governor Natalio Beltran III, Vice-Gorvernor Alice Fetalvero, the Sanggunian Panlalawigan of Romblon, San Fernando Mayor Nanette Borda-Tansingco and Vice-Mayor Angeles B. Chan, Magdiwang Mayor Ibarra Manzala, Cajidiocan Mayor Nicasio Ramos and Vice-Mayor Athena Malapitan, and respective Sangguniang Bayan Members, Sibuyan Barangay Captains and Kagawads, Forward Romblon, Romblon Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Romblon Lawyers Association and all concerned persons who still have love for the Island of Sibuyan

We strongly ask the government through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to cancel all mining permits and applications in Sibuyan Island—a natural wealth of the Philippines. We also remind President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of her pronouncements during her visit last year to San Fernando that 'Sibuyan has a high economic growth potential, notably as a tourist destination.' Apparently, not mining. In addition, in her 2006 State of the Nation Address, she stated publicly that '…Romblon… With tourism… can become rich.' Again, not through mining.

Sibuyan Island is where the world's densest forest flourishes, the Philippine's cleanest inland body of water flows (Cantingas River), and the majestic Mt. Guiting-giuting dwells. The island is a critical plant site, center of endemism and biodiversity. One of the last frontiers of the Philippines.

To the Local Government Officials, don't be traitors! You have used the anti-mining advocacy in your campaigns last election and you succeeded.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

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Sign the Online Petition
http://www.petitiononline.com/sam2007/petition.html
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[Ex!lE]

P2.7B mining projects approved

The Board of Investments (BOI) has approved three mining projects of Canadian, Chinese and Malaysian-affiliated firms worth P2.7 billion last week, signaling a renewed interest in mining investments in the country, BOI managing head Elmer C. Hernandez reported.

TVI Resources Mining Inc. is investing P1.2 billion to mine for gold at Sitio Canatuan, Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte.

TVI is 40-percent partly owned by TVI International Marketing Ltd. Of Hong Kong, which is, turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of TVI Pacific Inc. Of Alberta, Canada.

Filipino-Chinese firm Carrascal Nickel Corp. will invest P874 million to mine for nickel ore mining in Carrascal, Surigao del Sur while Platinum Group Metals Corp. (PGMC) will invest another P614.87 million to mine for nickel ore.

[zoroethgenre_003]

at this point, Bayog, a town in Zamboanga del Sur have been creating name in the Mining industry..last April, the Toronto Ventures Incorporated (TVI) has started their operation..they set mining facilities in the mountain village of Balabag, 36 kilometer away from the town proper..

its not only TVI..
-in the 1970, the Samar Mining Company have also operated in the town but was closed..
-Cebu Ore Mining is also digging in the town's premise.looking for ore, an important component of steel.
-168 Pacific Ferrum Mining is also exploiting the town's ore resources..

[LordCarnal]

There's already an oil rig in Tañon Strait (Cebu-Negros).

I hope they find oil there..

Photo below from Sunstar Daily Newspaper





..

[bitoy]

I wonder what the global warming advocates will say about this?

[gen1]

Originally Posted by arnold_carl

There's already an oil rig in Tañon Strait (Cebu-Negros).

I hope they find oil there..

Photo below from Sunstar Daily Newspaper





..

was this shot at sibulan ?

[LordCarnal]

sa Cebu side, looking towards Negros.

[-TC-]

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquire...icle_id=102941

Atienza: Let folks share in mine wealth
By Vincent Cabreza
Inquirer
11/25/2007

BAGUIO CITY -- The only way to erase the anti-mining sentiments of the people is to make them happy and this could be done by letting them share in the mining wealth of their communities now that the country has a robust mining industry, Environment Secretary Lito Atienza said on Friday.

Speaking at the close of the 54th annual mine safety and environment conference here, Atienza said Malacañang supported a House measure that would allow local governments to retain a share of the taxes paid by mining firms.

The proposal would compel mining companies to pay their taxes in the towns that host their operations, and not in Makati City where most of the firms have their head offices.

Atienza said that even without the measure, he could compel the mining companies to pay their taxes to the local governments to prove to their citizens that doing business with mines is profitable for them.

He said the 1991 Local Government Code grants local governments this privilege, and vowed “to go to jail,” if he is challenged.

He said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is also addressing royalty disputes that have cropped up between old mining firms, American families that owned old patents to lands, and the indigenous residents of mine sites that now want a share of the profits.

The Ibaloi community has been urging some Benguet mines to review their patents now that the indigenous peoples’ right to their ancestral lands has been strengthened by the Constitution and the 1997 Indigenous Peoples Rights Act.

The most controversial royalty dispute to reach the DENR is that between Lepanto Consolidated Mining Corp. and the heirs of American John Gaffney. Government arbiters granted the Gaffneys’ claim to P850 million in royalties but the firm is contesting the decision due to questions surrounding the claims.

Atienza told mining executives he was instructed by President Macapagal-Arroyo to promote mining when she appointed him environment secretary.

“The future of our economy will definitely have a good use for the mining industry, and the President’s vision has a key part for the industry. Kailangan natin gawin ang tama (We need to do what is right),” he said.

The conference highlighted the revitalization of mines that had either slowed their operations or shut them down completely because of the past slump in the world metals trade.

Getting local government backing will be crucial to cleansing the industry’s public image, Atienza said.

“We will get the support of the local government units once they share in the benefits of mining. This is clear in the Constitution and in the Local Government Code. The share of local governments must be released automatically to them without benefit of additional legislation,” he said.

[Animo]

Saturday, December 01 2007 @ 02:10 PM UTC

Technology
A Madrid-based biodiesel leader in Europe is planning to invest US$ 200 million in the Philippines to develop at least 100,000 hectares of land into jatropha plantations to be used as feedstock for biofuel facilities in the country.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap on Saturday said Bionor Transformacion S.A., a well-established global multi-feedstock company, bared its plans to invest in the Philippines' biofuel sector through a memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed recently between AME Bionergy Corp. and the Philippine Agricultural Development and Commercial Corporation (PADCC).

AME, which was appointed the key integrator for Bionor in the Philippines, is tasked to identify suitable jatropha plantation sites, consolidate lands, organize and train farm labor, use appropriate cultivation and agronomic practices, organize local support to install plantation infrastructure, and study the cost structure for production to determine and recommend to Bionor whether its planned jatropha development project is economically viable and internationally competitive.

PADCC, on the other hand, will assist AME in these aspects and will mobilize the resources of the DA's agencies and bureaus as well as financial institutions to help realize Bionor's plans.

The MOA between AME and PADCC was signed last November 16, by AME President Eugenio Puyat II and PADCC President, Marriz Agbon in the Agribusiness Center of the Department of Agriculture. DA Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat, AME Director Manuel Garcia and Bionor Director Agustin Garcia witnessed the signing.

Yap said Bionor's main thrust is to develop feedstock plantations worldwide using raw materials that do not compete with the food sector and do not lead to deforestation.

"This is why Bionor is tapping jatropha, a non-food crop, to support the requirements of its refineries," he said.

Bionor is currently operating two biodiesel plants in Spain and Italy with a combined output of 125,000 metric tons (MT) and constructing an additional five plants in Spain and Brazil that will add an additional 900,000 MT of capacity in 2008 and in the fist quarter 2009, resulting in a combined capacity in early 2009 of over a million MT of methyl ester.

Last January, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed into law Republic Act 9367 or the Biofuels Law, which aims to ease the country's dependence on imported, dollar-draining and pollution-generating energy sources by making the blending of ethanol and coco biodiesel in petroleum products mandatory.

RA 9367 also provides a package of incentives for investors in the biofuels sector, including exemptions from the payment of specific and value added taxes; and financing for those engaged in the production, handling, and transport of biofuel and biofuel feedstock.

[Animo]

PRESIDENT Gloria Arroyo will seek investments and funding for the Philippines’ alternative-fuel sector during her state visit to Spain, the Agriculture department said.

“We have forwarded to the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food several project proposals for consideration and possible funding,” Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said in a statement on Monday. “These include joint partnerships on [fisheries] development, biofuels, development of the bluefin tuna industry and development of biofuels feedstock.”

Besides official aid, Yap said the agriculture department plans to sign an agreement with Bionor Transformacion, a European multi-feedstock biodiesel firm, to promote biofuels investments and identify land for feedstock development in the Philippines.

The Agriculture department has identified more than 725,000 hectares of idle agricultural land that can be planted with crops that could be used as feedstock for biofuels production.

These could be planted with cassava, palm oil, coconut, sugarcane, jatropha and other crops to cash in on the biofuels boom in the global market, the department said in a statement.

Earlier this year, President Arroyo signed the country’s biofuels act, which aims to ease the country’s dependence on imported petroleum products by requiring the mandatory use of biodiesel or ethanol and providing incentives to business groups engaged in biofuel production.
-AFP

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/...71204top3.html

[bariQ]

natawa ako dito

[bitoy]

[zeejay]

Ano naman po ang nakakatawa sa balitang iyan? Hindi naman masamang humingi ng tulong sa ibang bansa para mapondohan ang iba nating proyekto, kagaya na lamang ng biofuel industry na hindi pa ganoon ka-developed dito sa bansa natin.

Dahil agong tuklas pa lang ang biofuels dito sa atin ay mainam na makipagtulungan nga tayo sa bansang kagaya ng Spain.

[bariQ]

i agree with you pero hina naman ng sense of humor mo tingnan mo ulit

[le Reine]

hindi niya kasi nakita si BATMAN sa kanyang BATCAVE.

[Wind Shear]

Originally Posted by bariQ

natawa ako dito

Kulang na lang dito ang Bat-Mobile

[Animo]

50,000 hectares to be planted to cassava

By Amy R. Remo
Inquirer
Last updated 02:12am (Mla time) 12/11/2007


An energy company based in Spain plans to invest as much as $250 million to develop 50,000 hectares of land into cassava plantations whose output will be used as feedstock for biofuel facilities in the Philippines, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said.

Abengoa Bioenergy signed a memorandum of understanding with Philippine Agricultural Development and Commercial Corp. during President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s two-day state visit to Spain last week, Yap said.

Abengoa is the largest ethanol producer in Europe, where it operates several bioethanol facilities. It also has plants in Brazil and the United States, where it ranks fifth in the industry.

The memorandum of understanding, which is valid for a year, was signed by Agriculture Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat and Abengoa chairman Javier Salgado Leirado last week.

Under its provisions, Abengoa will help the Department of Agriculture identify varieties of cassava for cultivation trials.

Puyat said that Abengoa would provide design engineering and supply the machinery required to develop cassava plantations, as well as study the possibility of setting up bioethanol factories in the Philippines.

Feedstock production from the distillery is projected at 1.0-1.2 million tons to generate about 150 to 200 million liters of bioethanol a year, he said.

Through a Abengoa-PADCC working committee, the PADCC will help Abengoa in conducting capability-enhancement training for farmers, Puyat added.

He said Abengoa would lend its technical expertise in the agricultural production side to develop high yielding varieties and increase feedstock productivity.

Yap said Abengoa and PADCC could enter into partnerships focusing on energy crops development and cost-competitive biomass technology.

Earlier, a Bilbao-based biodiesel leader in Europe -- Bionor Transformacion S.A. -- revealed plans to invest $200 million in the Philippines to develop at least 100,000 hectares of land into jatropha plantations to be used as feedstock for biofuel plants. With INQUIRER.net

[Animo]

Investments worth over billions of pesos have been lined up for the development of the bio-fuels industry, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri said over the weekend.

Zubiri, principal author of the Biofuels Law, said Coromoto Comunicacion of Spain was looking at investing some $100 million for a bio-diesel plant in southern Bukidnon.

Zubiri said representatives from Coromoto, a Spanish fund management group, would visit the Philippines next week to study the prospect of using jatropha plant as feedstock for a bio-diesel plant.

“They are a big corporation from Madrid and they are planning to enter into jatropha,” he said.

Zubiri also cited the planned investment of JGC Corp. of Japan for a P2-billion bio-fuel processing plant in San Mariano, Isabela.

JGC is a global engineering construction company headquartered in Yokohama, Japan. The company designs and builds plants and other projects for a wide range of industries, including petroleum refining, gas processing petrochemicals and nuclear energy.

Another Spanish company, Abengoa Bionergy, had expressed interest in investing $175 million in the local bio-fuels industry, Zubiri said. The company, which owns and operates five ethanol facilities throughout the US and Europe, plans to put up a similar plant in Ozamis City.

“They are looking at an area of 48,000 hectares for its planned investment,” he said.

Spanish bio-diesel firm Bionor Transformacion S.A. also wants to invest $200 million to develop at least 100,000 hectares of land into jatropha plantations. The investment includes the construction of a bio-diesel plant.

Green Fuel Inc., another Spanish firm, plans to invest $100 million to $150 million for a biodiesel plant in Davao Oriental. Alena Mae S. Flores

[-TC-]

http://business.inquirer.net/money/t...icle_id=110715

SPECIAL REPORT (Part 1)

Security risks, red tape hobble mining boom
By Daxim Lucas
Philippine Daily Inquirer
01/06/2008

LAST WEEK--on New Year's Day--New People's Army (NPA) rebels attacked the Tampakan mine in South Cotabato, temporarily paralyzing operations in what is potentially one of the biggest gold and copper deposit sites in Asia.

Several structures of Sagittarius Mines Inc. were razed and company technical equipment and firearms stolen, with damage totaling P5 million due to the raid by an estimated 100 Maoist insurgents, according to authorities.

The next day, the NPAs' parent organization, the Communist Party of the Philippines, immediately boasted on its website that the raid was conducted "with the singular objective of punishing the giant Swiss mining firm (which partly owns SMI) for land-grabbing, plunder and environmental destruction."

The statement attributed to CPP spokesperson Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal added that the "punitive raid" was made "in response to a longstanding demand of the people to put a stop to the firm's operations in the area."

It was not the first time that the NPA had entered the mining debate through force, having also laid claim to an attack on the facilities of Australian gold miner El Dore Mining Corp. in Camarines Norte in October 2007.

In March 2007, the NPA also raided the facilities of coal miner MG Mining Co. in Surigao del Sur after the firm refused to pay revolutionary taxes.

These raids highlight a growing concern among mining insiders and foreign investors about the physical safety of what the government hopes would grow into a multibillion-dollar industry.

In a series of messages to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Chamber of Mines executive vice president Nelia Halcon said that the security situation in many of the country's mine sites have emerged as significant worries for mining firms.

"[Mining investors] are concerned about security of their investments," she said. "What happened to El Dore and lately Tampakan are major setbacks."

The security situation is especially critical for start-up miners of exploration companies which have yet to establish solid roots in their local communities, making them more vulnerable to attacks by guerrillas and bandits.

Worrisome

The government, too, is worried.

This is mainly because the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had made the mining industry one of the cornerstones of its economic development program, earlier vowing to tap an estimated $840 billion worth of mineral reserves buried under Philippine soil.

Mines and Geosciences Bureau Director Horacio Ramos conceded that before investors and the rest of the country can enjoy the benefits from the industry, special attention must be given to improving the security situation at mine sites around the country, many of which are located in areas under the sway of rebels or bandits.

"The main worry [among investors] is the implementation of the projects due to issues of [physical] safety of their investments," he said. "We're trying to convince investors [to come in] but when these things happen, some hesitate."

More importantly, mining industry insiders are also worried about the backlash that the NPA attacks will inevitably have, since the government's knee-jerk reaction is often to send additional soldiers and police forces to secure the mine sites.

Militarization

This remedy and the resulting militarization of the mining areas is almost as undesirable as the disease it seeks to cure, according to industry insiders, who point to the Mount Diwalwal experience where military control of the area has given rise to complaints about corruption and human rights abuses.

It is unclear how the security situation has affected the industry in monetary terms, but Ramos points out that total foreign investments in mining have reached $1 billion as of end-2007--a significant amount, but a far cry from the billions of dollars promised earlier by the government.

"The investors are still coming in, but there are problems just like in any country where there is mining," Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza said in an interview.

According to him, the security situation is just one aspect of the many issues that the industry still has to hurdle if it is to achieve its full potential. (To be concluded.)

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http://business.inquirer.net/money/t...icle_id=110978

SPECIAL REPORT (Part 2)

Mining investments to surge this year
By Daxim Lucas
Philippine Daily Inquirer
01/08/2008

The country’s top mining regulators continue to be bullish about the industry, despite the roadblocks that remain in the way of many foreign investors and their local partners.

In recent months, however, this bullishness has given way to guarded optimism as the harsh realities slowly take hold.

From touting the possibility of monetizing as much as $840 billion just two years ago -- more than enough money to pay off the entire national debt several times over -- government officials now recite more conservative numbers.

Some $1.6 billion worth of foreign money is expected to come into the local mining industry this year, Mines and Geosciences Bureau Director Horacio Ramos says.

Relative to other booming sectors of the economy like the business process outsourcing industry or even the remittances sent home by expatriate Filipinos, this amount is peanuts.

But the number -- if it materializes -- masks a marked acceleration in mining investments since the start of the industry’s revival in 2004. From 2004 to 2007, only about $1 billion in mining investments have so far entered the economy, Ramos says.

The expected 60-percent increase in mining investments this year will be due mainly to the funds that investors will pour into the various projects run by CGA Mining Corp., Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. and Oceana Gold all over the country.

Ramos adds that the country can expect to see as much as $9 billion worth of investments coming in by 2010 -- if everything will proceed smoothly, that is.

If the present state of the industry is any indication, however, some outstanding issues will have to be ironed out before the government can encourage these investments to come in.

Apart from the security risks frequently encountered by mining firms, the bureaucracy at the national and local levels is another main concern that must be addressed.

In an interview, Chamber of Mines of the Philippines executive vice president Nelia Halcon points out that the cumbersome approvals process for mining permits at various levels remains a sore point between the regulators and the private sector.

Approval process

“The approval of exploration permits should be done faster,” she says. “Remember, we have had several DENR [Department of the Environment and Natural Resources] secretaries. Changes in certain policies disrupt plans and programs.”

Halcon points out that the peculiar nature of the industry -- where mining firms live on a hand-to-mouth basis as long as they are not yet in full production -- makes for a deadly combination with the red tape foe which the government is known for.

“As far as I know, several are waiting for the approval of their mining tenements,” she says. “As you know, [this] business lives by the day and this is oftentimes taken for granted by government.”

“When investors decide to go with a project, they also seek financing. They are not able to work on the ground when their tenements are not approved yet,” the Chamber of Mines official explains.

Thankfully for the mining community, the importance of the situation is not lost on the current leadership of the DENR, led by Secretary Lito Atienza.

Atienza, a former Manila mayor, candidly admits in an interview that the cumbersome bureaucracy remains a major challenge, and said that steps are being taken to streamline the approvals process for projects which often run into several years before permits are handed out.

“On the part of the DENR, we are helping to hasten the process and time it takes for a mining company to start operations,” he says. We want them to be able to start operations in 8 to 10 years, instead of the present time needed of 12 to 15 years.”

These delays, he says, are caused by “too much red tape” as well as “the attitude of people” involved in the industry, whether they are private or pubic stakeholders.

Atienza stresses, however, that most delays in mining operations are caused by poor preparations by the mining firms themselves, especially in dealing with the local communities where they operate (the main cause of the chronic security problem, he believes) -- a view opposed to the private sector’s version which blames regulatory hurdles as the main cause for the sluggish inflow of investments.

For the industry to move forward faster, stakeholders will first have to agree on how to address these issues. At stake is no less than the future of an industry that has the potential to single-handedly turn the country’s economic fortunes around, for good.

[lightsaber46]

Surge in mining-related
investments this year–DTI

By Katrina Mennen A. Valdez, Reporter

THE Department of Trade and Industry said the Philippines should prepare for a surge of mining-related investments this year.

Trade Undersecretary Elmer C. Hernandez said mining will be the biggest investment story this year on the back of the appreciating value of metals.

“Prices of gold, silver, copper and nickel are evidently going up. These minerals are all abundant here,” he said.

Citing the number of letters the Board of Investments (BOI) has received so far, Hernandez, who is also the incentives-giving agency’s managing head, said that large-scale mining firms plan to position themselves in the country not only in mineral extraction but also in refinery.

The price of gold stood at $897 per ounce, $16 an ounce for silver, $328 an ounce for copper, and $27 per kilogram of nickel.

Should the mining companies decide to put up high value refineries in the country, each facility would entail an investment of $500 million to $1 billion, Hernandez said.

“Mining companies are already seeing the country not only as a source of minerals, but already a capable manufacturer of certain metal products, which is very good for the country,” the trade official said, adding this would translate to more jobs and higher incomes.

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/...80114bus2.html