The Alyansa Tigil Mina Blog

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200608149903.htm
By Katherine Adraneda
The Philippine Star 08/14/2006

An alliance of fishermen pressed Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Angelo Reyes yesterday to identify the Malacañang officials allegedly behind the reinstatement of a logging contract covering 36,660 hectares of the Sierra Madre mountain range.

Reyes, according to the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), is “highly obligated” and “legally and morally obliged” to name the Palace officials allegedly responsible for restoring the forestry contract of Timberland Forest Products Inc. (TFPI).

“Let’s call a spade a spade. If Secretary Reyes wants to score a giant kill against large-scale and destructive logging, the first thing he must do is to tell the Filipino people the mastermind behind the hair-splitting and disgusting return of the TFPI in the logging scene. We will not accept a no-comment response from Reyes,” said Fernando Hicap, Pamalakaya national chairman. (more…)

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/dav/2006/08/14/news/mine.firm.might.be.booted.out.of.d..oriental.html

THE Heritage Resources Development Corporation (HRDC) may end up booted after displeasing local government units for not paying taxes.

HRDC is the mining company who has sought government help to drive away members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) who allegedly encamped in their mining site in Banaybanay, Davao Oriental since July 21. Unconfirmed reports reaching Sun.Star showed that Banaybanay Mayor Pete Mejos scolded HRDC officials for non-payment of their financial obligations to the community. (more…)

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/gen/2006/08/14/news/mines.bureau.draws.flak.html

RESIDENTS affected by a big mining venture in Mindanao recently chided the regional Mines and Geosciences Bureau office in General Santos City for causing them “sleepless night and undue panic” after the agency flip-flopped from its earlier warning.

In February this year, Jose Madrona, then the bureau’s regional director, issued a report on evaluating the presence of fissures and crack in the soil in Tablu, Tampakan in South Cotabato.”
“The soonest the residents within the affected area and the houses below the creeping mass consider transferring to safer place now, the better it would be for their safety,” Madrona said in a letter addressed to village chieftain Perlita Suase. (more…)

As tribes denounce killings of 72 indigenous peoples
http://www.bulatlat.com/news/6-27/6-27-iprights.htm

What could be the reasons for the Philippine government’s refusal to vote for the adoption of the draft United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples last June?

BY JHONG DELA CRUZ
Bulatlat
(more…)

http://www.bulatlat.com/news/6-27/6-27-mining.htm
BY JHONG DELA CRUZ
Bulatlat

Central Luzon region is attracting mining investors, with its rich deposits of asphalt, basalt, gold, silver, copper and zinc. Indigenous peoples, however, say the mining explorations are driving them out of their ancestral lands.

Central Luzon is attracting mining investors with a total of 286 varied applications from local and multi-national companies pending with the Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau. The region is rich with high-value minerals, including asphalt, basalt, gold, silver, copper and zinc but these however, do not benefit indigenous peoples who are being driven away by the mining ventures.

The region is composed of provinces of Tarlac, Pampanga, Bataan, Bulacan, Zambales, Nueva Ecija and parts of Aurora.

“We do not need land titles,” said Nelson Mallari, secretary-general of Central Luzon Aeta Association (CLAA), in opening the dialogue with the officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources August 3. (more…)

http://www.mb.com.ph/BSNS2006081471676.html

Philex Mining Corporation expects to establish record earnings this year in its 49-year-old Padcal mine story on optimism that favorable copper and gold prices will continue at least for the near term.

The firm said gold price is currently above $ 620 per ounce after reaching more than $ 720 per ounce in the middle of the second quarter, a level not seen in about 25 years.

The price of copper is also surfing the wave of its all time high at above $ 3.50 per pound.
Profits of Philex Mining rose almost tenfold to P1.2 billion in the first half of the year from the P122.4 million earned in the same period in 2005 due to soaring metal prices in the world market. (more…)

http://www.mb.com.ph/BSNS2006081471687.html
By STEVE JAMES

NEW YORK, Aug. 13 (Reuters) — It all started with Canadian mining company Inco Ltd. saying that it wanted to acquire nickel miner Falconbridge Ltd.

Then Teck Cominco stepped in to make a play for Inco and was soon followed by Swiss-based Xstrata with a bid for Falconbridge.

Making the scenario more interesting, USbased Phelps Dodge proposed a three-way with Inco and Falconbridge to form a North American mining powerhouse. That failed but Phelps said it still wanted Inco. (more…)

http://newsinfo.inq7.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view_article.php?article_id=15116
08/14/2006

LUCENA CITY — Officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Quezon province have allayed fears of environmentalist groups that the Malacañang-reinstated forest management contract would lead to the destruction of the Sierra Madre mountain range.
“Before TFPI (Timberland Forest Products Inc.) can start actual operation, it should first undergo the required public hearing to get the side of the community. The operation is still a long way to go,” Antonio Diwa, the community environment and natural resources officer based in Real town, told the Inquirer over the phone.

Diwa said a lot of documents must be submitted for approval before any forest management activities could be started. (more…)

Xiao Yu and Ying Lou, Shanghai Daily -
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/art/2006/08/09/288559/Zijin_seeks_to_buy_overseas_mine.htm

9th August 2006

ZIJIN Mining Group Co, which runs China’s largest gold mine, intends to make a mine cquisition overseas as early as September, Chairman Chen Jinghe said.

The company’s priority is to buy stakes in gold mines, followed by copper and zinc, Chen said in Hong Kong yesterday. Zijin, based in the eastern province of Fujian, will seek domestic partners that “have more experience in overseas acquisitions,” he said, declining to give details of next
month’s possible transaction.

Chen is tapping Zijin’s increased earnings to buy mines in China and assessing resources in the Philippines and Mongolia to bolster reserves as gold and copper demand in the world’s fastest-growing major economy surges, Bloomberg News said. Gold prices rose 25 percent this year and touched a 26-year high of US$730.40 an ounce on May 12. Copper has more than doubled in the past year. (more…)

Wednesday, 9 August 2006

http://www.miningnews.net/StoryView.asp?StoryID=63403

XSTRATA looks on the verge of finally winning the hand of major nickel miner Falconbridge after the target company’s board told shareholders it was unlikely a more attractive offer would materialise.

The recommendation by the Falconbridge board followed the failure of the Inco takeover offer late last month, which had been the board’s preferred bid.

While the battle between competing suitors was fierce, Xstrata was always in the box seat to win Falconbridge after picking up a 19.9% strategic stake in the miner 12 months ago from Falconbridge’s then-major shareholder Brascan.

Those shares cost it a mere $C28 each - compared to the $62.50 per share being recommended by Falconbridge’s board - giving it a big advantage over other bidders when it came to the offer price for the remaining shares.