TACLOBAN CITY-The regional director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau Roger De Dios has promised to conduct a dialogue with the members of the provincial board of Leyte prior to issuance of mining and exploration permits among its applicants. This was revealed by Board Member and chairman on the committee of public information and the committee on environment and natural resources Roque Tiu in an interview with the Leyte Samar Daily Express.
Issue on mining is among the top priority of said committee which Tiu chairs as numerous complaints against mining firm had already reach the grounds of Leyte.
The promised of De Dios was the result of the recent talk with the members of the provincial board after tTiu sent an invitation to the MGB head for him to appear personally before them.
“He had promised to attend the dialogue with the provincial board each time there is a pending mining or exploration permit in his office and he added that they will not issue any exploration permit without a prior consultation with the provincial board,” said Tiu.
De Dios presence during the session of the provincial board was the result of the reports verified by the staff of Tiu that the NICUA Mining Corporation, a mining firm operating in the municipality of Macarthur, Leyte is now conducting a “commercial mining” operation in contrast to the previous report that they are only conducting a exploration and the minerals extracted from the said town was only part of samples that needs to be ship to China where their partner company Heng Seng Mining Corporation is located.
Mineral that extracted in the said town is the magnetite sand.
Magnetite is a magnetic and very dense (heavy) mineral of iron. It has many idustrial uses and is an imortant source of iron for the iron an steel industries but it also has other uses as an industrial mineral to produce many value-added products. Hgh-grade magnetite is used in many hemical processes including the production of iron sulfate, which is used to purify water in many major cities. Magnetite’s weight per volume makes it an important source of aggregate in the production of heavy concrete. Heavy concrete is used from the construction of baffles and containment tanks in nuclear power plants to things as everyday as counter weights in household washing machines.
In earlier session of the provincial board, Board Member Anlie Apostol(2nd dist) had asked Tiu to make a query on the operation of Nicua as the provincial government the representatives of the DENR and MGB from the central office have made an agreement that prior to issuance of permits among mining operator the MGB and mining company must first have a consultation with the provincial board.
This problem particularly on the operation of Nicua during the recent session was clarified by De Dios after explaining that the issuances of the commercial mining permit from the central office to the said company happens few days before the meeting that was held in Tacloban were said agreement was made, according to Tiu.
Tiu added that in their discussion the MGB director promised to follow the provision of the Local Government Code and the Environmental Code of Leyte that seeks for a prior consultation with the respective local government units before an issuance of a mining and exploration permit be granted to a mining applicant.
“We have basis why we are asking him to have consultation with us based on the national and local which was not declared as unconstitutional therefore he must obliged to do it,” Tiu said.
“This is part of our national law which everybody should observe and respect,” added Tiu. (Roel Amazona)
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