The Alyansa Tigil Mina Blog

http://www.tribune.net.ph/business/20060912bus10.html
09/12/2006

Australia’s Lafayette Mining has been forced to halt operations at its Rapu-Rapu island mine after a temporary operating permit expired, regulators said yesterday.

Government regulators shut down the mine last October after two tailing spills but the company won provisional approval for a 60-day trial run in June under which it would have to prove that safety measures had been put in place to prevent similar accidents.

“The results of the first 30 days of the test run are still being studied by the Pollution Adjudication Board,” Joy Grate, an aide to Mines and Geosciences Bureau chief Horacio Ramos, told AFP.

Grate would not give a timetable on when the board would issue its ruling.
Lafayette Philippines officials were unavailable for comment.
Earlier Monday in Sydney, Lafayette said the Rapu-Rapu operations were stopped on Friday. AFP

http://www.tribune.net.ph/business/20060912bus2.html
By Ayen Infante
09/12/2006

The local mining industry has decided to call off an international mining event that was set in Manila next month to save the Arroyo Administration from possible embarrassment.

In a letter to Malacañang, Chamber of Mines of the Philippines president Benjamin Philip Romualdez, cited several reasons the industry agreed to cancel an international mining conference and exhibition that was supposed to happen in Manila from Oct. 3 to 5.

Romualdez highlighted in his letter that the government has failed to deliver the promised policy reforms to make the industry globally competitive and stable. (more…)

http://www.malaya.com.ph/sep12/busi2.htm

SYDNEY—Australia’s Lafayette Mining Ltd. said yesterday it was forced to again halt operations at its Rapu-Rapu mine in the Philippines after a temporary government operating license expired.

The mine was closed last year after two cyanide spills but had nearly resumed full operations by late last week under a 60-day trial run approved by the government.

Lafayette’s shares fell 5.75 percent to 8 Australian cents, in a broader S&P/ASX 200 index down 0.6 percent.

Lafayette said results from mine operations over the trial run had demonstrated the mine’s ore treatment plant was in compliance with regulatory standards, but its application for a further 60-day extension to operate the plant had not been considered by the Pollution Adjudication Board of the Philippines. (more…)

http://www.mb.com.ph/BSNS2006091274158.html
September 12, 2006

Domestic mining players have asked Malacañang’s intervention and direction to restore investor confidence in the mining sector after a series of events that have caused investors to rethink their planned investments in the country.

This was raised by the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines in a letter to President Gloria Arroyo that also informed of the chamber’s decision to postpone the international mining conference scheduled on October 3-5 this year to next year.

“With this current state of the Philippine mining industry, and after careful deliberation and deep reflection, the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines decided during its meeting on August 24th to postpone to next year the Philippine 2006 International Mining Conference and Exhibition,” said Benjamin Philip G. Romualdez in a letter, dated August 29, to the president. (more…)

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=50069

SYDNEY - Australia’s Lafayette Mining Ltd. said on Monday it was forced to again halt operations at its Rapu-Rapu mine in the Philippines’s Albay province after a temporary government operating license expired.

The mine was closed last year after two cyanide spills but had nearly resumed full operations by late last week under a 60-day trial run approved by the government.

Lafayette’s shares fell 5.75 percent to 8 Australian cents, in a broader S&P/ASX 200 index down 0.6 percent. (more…)

By Dolly Aglay, Reuters -
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2418469
Sep 11, 2006

MANILA (Reuters) - Mining executives from Africa are visiting the Philippines this week to see how much of its vaunted $1 trillion worth of unexplored mineral wealth is on offer.

But instead of trumpeting this, the Philippines is keeping the details quiet for fear lest green groups picket the venue of the conference and the mine visits.

“I think it’s unfortunate that the government should think this way,” Peter Wallace, president of private think-tank Wallace Business Forum, said.

“What they should be doing is actively inform the public of the tremendous benefits of mining.”

Manila, however, seems to be wavering in its policy of mining promotion. (more…)