Anti-mining group faces libel

Manila Standard Today

Wednesday July 11,2007

A6

LAFAYETTE Philippines sued yesterday an anti-mining group and its key officers for libel, saying their brand of irresponsible and unprincipled advocacy employed a systematic pattern of lies and hate-mongering to pressure the government to close down the company.

"We are taking this unprecedented defensive measure to protect the company and the thousands of people we employ directly and indirectly, and to force these anti-mining groups to be a positive force through a moral, honest, and responsible advocacy," said Carlos g Dominguez, chairman and president of Lafayette.'

Included in the complaint filed before the Pasig City Prosecutor's Office were the trustees of the, Centre for Environmental Concerns Inc. and its executive director, Frances Quimpo, who, for almost two years running, insisted on allegations that had long been proven as a hoax and unscientific.

The company is seeking P l0 million in damages which it plans to use as a scholarship fund for deserving Rapu-Rapu students to secure advanced degrees in environmental management and protection. .

The company is also preparing similar complaints against radical 'groups, including a Rapu-Rapu Island resident who even flew to Melbourne just to distribute anti-Lafayette handouts to the company's bankers. .

"These groups, want Bicol region's biggest investor and job creator to close down under the guise of protecting the environment. Some of them have even gone as low as, telling the Rapu-Rapu residents that they are better off as poor fishermen than have the Rapu-Rapu Polymetallic Project around," he said.

Dominguez said the anti-mining advocates succeeded last year in making people believe that the company caused a mercury spill off the coast of Sorsogon , across the sea from Rapu-Rapu, the project's location. He said the company does not use mercury at all.

"It took us months to clear our name with, the help of independent scientific groups. But the worst injury of the mercury hoax was on the 5,000 Sorsogon fishermen who could not sell their catch. The poor got poorer and more desperate, while the miscreants got away," he said.

Dominguez said this should not be the case because responsible non-government organizations have a big role to play especially in monitoring as the country becomes a major mining player in the region.

CEC, in its various handouts and campaigns, had accused the company of "engaging in the illicit sale of Philippine natural resources," being "deceitful in reporting its production," "epitomize(s) irresponsible mining," "causing fish kills," and causing various ailments in the community that doctors said came from poverty and poor hygiene

The Rapu Rapu Shares are trading at their lowest to my knowledge!

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Code	Last	% Chg	Bid	Offer	Open	High	Low	Vol
LAF	0.041	-4.65%	0.040	0.041	0.042	0.042	0.040	10,571,301

Closing prices

Closing prices are displayed for the last 5 days on which the security traded on ASX within the last 6 months.

Date	Last	% Change	High	Low	Vol *
10 Jul 2007	0.043	-6.52%	0.046	0.043	9,006,491
09 Jul 2007	0.046	0%	0.048	0.045	7,393,294
06 Jul 2007	0.046	-4.17%	0.049	0.046	7,282,141
05 Jul 2007	0.048	0%	0.050	0.048	4,736,368
04 Jul 2007	0.048	2.13%	0.049	0.048	4,914,359

* Volume of shares shown represents only those shares traded on ASX.

DENR: Small-scale miners must comply with environmental rules

Stressing that the government adheres only to responsible mining, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Angelo T. Reyes on Tuesday reiterated that small-scale mining operations are not excused from complying with the environmental, safety and health, and social provisions of the Mining Act of 1995.

Reyes issued the statement as he announced the issuance of the clarificatory guidelines that should finally put to rest all issues and misconceptions on small-scale mining operations.

"We want to ensure that in any case, our people would benefit from the extraction of our minerals whether through small, medium or large-scale operation, while their health and safety are taken care of, and our environment protected," the DENR chief said.

Reyes issued the guidelines last week to all concerned DENR officials and offices including all Provincial/City Mining Regulatory Boards (P/CMRB), a body created under Republic Act (RA) No. 7076 otherwise known as The Act Creating a People's Small-scale Mining Program to implement the said Act and another law on small-scale mining, Presidential Decree (PD) No. 1899 that established Small-scale Mining as a New Dimension in Mineral Development.

He said that aside from those of RA 7076, and PD 1899, small-scale mining permit holders and contractors must submit to the environmental, safety and health and social provisions of the Mining Act of 1995.

As such, Reyes said small-scale miners are required to secure environmental compliance certificate (ECC) from the regional offices of the DENR's Environmental Management Bureau and submit a potential environmental impact report (PEIR), a final mine rehabilitation/decommissioning plan, and a community cevelopment and management program (CDMP) duly approved by DENR's Mines and Geosciences Bureau. A PEIR is a simplified Environmental Protection and Enhancement Program, while the CDMP is a simplified Social Development Management Program, both of which are basic requirements to medium- and large-scale mining contractors under the Mining Act of 1995.

Combating unscrupulous small-scale miners

Reyes also laid emphasis on the definition of small-scale mining as provided for in both RA 7076 and PD 1899, which should protect the government from unscrupulous entities that pose as small-scale miners while, in fact, conducting large-scale mining operations.

"Our laws are clear: small-scale mining refers to largely artisanal mining operations with heavy reliance on manual labor and without the use of explosives," he said.

In terms of production, he stressed, the maximum annual production allowed for metallic minerals shall be 50,000 dry metric tons (DMT) of "ore, not the metal itself." For non-metallic minerals, the allowed maximum annual production is 50,000 DMT of the material itself. In terms of area, mining permit holders and contractors are only allowed a maximum of 20 hectares per permit or contract area.

"The DENR would be very strict on these provisions along with environmental requirements," Reyes warned. "Only applications with ECC conforming with the provisions of RA 7076 and PD 1899 especially with respect to the limit of 50,000 dry metric tons, and the area limit of 20 hectares per permit or contract area, shall be allowed to mine on a small-scale basis. Indiscriminate small-scale mining operation must be stopped."

It can be recalled that the definition of maximum annual production has been a point of debate recently with DENR field offices reporting that some small-scale mining permit holders and contractors have been producing in excess of the 50,000 DMT annual limit for metallic minerals. The Department has suspended the operations of these companies.

There is also a widespread observation that indiscriminate small-scale mining operations are dragging the large-scale mining industry sector into the controversy on the environmental impacts of mining.

The government recognizes the important role of small-scale mining in the economy particularly in providing livelihood in the countryside.

Mines and Geosciences Bureau records show that of the PhP68.4 billion gross production value in mining in 2006, over PhP28.1 billion or about 41% came from small-scale gold mining alone.

It is estimated that there are over 2,000 approved small-scale mining permits all over the country, involving and benefiting about 200,000 people including miners and their families.

July 10, 2007

Lafayette seeks to resume Rapu-Rapu mining operations

First posted 04:40pm (Mla time) Oct 05, 2006 XFN-Asia

http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=24968

LAFAYETTE Philippines Inc. said it would ask the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to allow it to resume commercial mining operations at its copper, gold, silver and zinc mine on Rapu-Rapu Island in central Philippines.

Lafayette Philippines senior vice president and legal counsel Bayani Agabin said the company wants to begin normal operations ahead of the expiry of the 60-day extension of its government operating license, which was granted by the DENR last Sept. 14. The mine was forced to shut down on Sept. 11 after the temporary operating license expired in September.

However, the mine was allowed to do a 60-day test run to assess the effectiveness of its upgraded environmental safety facilities.

The mine was closed in October last year after two mining tailing spills.
"Typhoon Xangsane already showed that our emergency response procedures are efficient and there may no longer be a need to continue the test commissioning of our base metals plant. We have also met all the DENR requirements for us to resume commercial operations," said Agabin in an interview with XFN-Asia.

Before Xangsane hit the central and northern parts of the country last week, the base metals plant was already producing both copper and zinc concentrates under the third and last phase of the test run.

The plant, however, has been shutdown since Thursday last week due to Xangsane and power has yet to be restored, said Agabin.

"We expect electricity to be restored in a day or two so that we could resume the test run. Depending on data from our operations, it is likely that we will file a motion for a 'permanent lifting order' ahead of the expiration of the 60-day extension, because there have been no untoward incidents," he said.

"The data we have, so far, show that we are fully compliant with the standards for water quality, and all other requirements by DENR have been met.

The project started commercial production in July last year with an average output of about 2,500 ounces of gold a month.

Lafayette Philippines is the local unit of Australia's Lafayette Mining Ltd.
($1= 50.05 pesos, 1.34 Australian dollars)

‘Milenyo’ spares environment in run at Lafayette

http://www.malaya.com.ph/oct04/metro1.htm

TYPHOON "Milenyo" which ripped across eastern and northern Philippines last Thursday week left key parts of the country’s first mine developed by foreigners in decades severely damaged, but caused no environmental damage, Lafayette Mining Ltd. and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau [MGB] said on Tuesday.

Kay Donehue, a spokeswoman for Australian-listed Lafayette, which is running the mine under a temporary operating order after two cyanide spills last year led to a temporary closure, said a waste tailings storage facility was among equipment damaged by the storm.

"There was no environmental damage as a result of the storm," Donehue said from the company’s Melbourne headquarters.

This was confirmed by MGB’s Mining Environment Division chief Michael Cabalda. "Lafayette is okay. The tailings dam is functioning well. Our team was there during the typhoon. They are still monitoring until now," he told reporters in an interview.

Donehue said the mine and ore processing facilities on the remote Rapu-Rapu island in Albay were shut down as the typhoon hit the region, knocking out power and communication lines within the mainland. "We did not want to risk anything, certainly while the typhoon was going through," she said.

The typhoon damaged some buildings on the mine site and the water pumps at the tailings storage facilities, she said. "We will be resuming operations by about Thursday," she added.

Cabalda said mining expert Marcelo Bolaño, connected with Benguet Corp., has been chosen to act as the third party who will review the structure of Lafayette’s tailings dam and its acid mine drainage program.

Cabalda’s statement on the stability of Lafayette’s mine facilities came after Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes ordered a geological assessment of mine structures and geohazard areas in the country.

Lafayette was fined P10.7 million and its operations suspended in December 2005 by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources after two mine tailings spills last year, which released mercury, cyanide and other toxic metals into the environment.

Before the suspension, Lafayette was forecast to generate revenues of $350 million a year from production of 10,000 tons of copper in concentrate, 14,000 tons of zinc, 50,000 ounces of gold and 600,000 ounces of silver.
Total copper and zinc concentrate inventory as of Sept. 25 stood at 580 tons, Donehue said.

South Korea’s LG Co International Ltd. and the South Korean government’s resources investment arm KORES together hold 26 percent of Lafayette Philippines Inc. The rest is owned by the Australian company.

Environmentalists have opposed a Philippine law that allows 100 percent foreign ownership of local mining projects, up from 40 percent previously.
Lafayette’s shares closed down 1.3 percent at A$0.78.

– Reuters and Reinir C. Padua

Lafayette still optimizing operations on 3rd week of test run

By Katherine Adraneda
Publication Date: [Wednesday, September 27, 2006]

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/show_content.asp?article=277144

Australian-owned mining firm Lafayette Philippines Inc. is still optimizing its operations on the third week of its 60-day extended test run, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) said yesterday.

In a report to Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Angelo Reyes, MGB chief metallurgist Juancho Pablo Calvez revealed that Lafayette has already started running at 90 percent rated production capacity.

He said Lafayette has already achieved the minimum 25 percent copper content target for its copper concentrate production. Meanwhile, its zinc production has remained low, as it has yet to stabilize its operations.

"Optimization and stabilization of production is being done by determining the efficient operating parameters such as addition of chemicals and mesh grind," Calvez explained.

"The stabilization process is part of the debugging stage, which is a normal procedure in mill start up," he explained.

The initial debugging operation of Lafayette started on the final stage of its initial 30-day test run.

Calvez said that a team of MGB technical personnel is continuously monitoring the debugging, optimization, and stabilization processes at the P1.4-billion Rapu-Rapu Polymetallic project in Albay.

Lafayette has sought for the 60-day extended test run to further its "optimization stage" to make sure that all pre-requisites of the government are complied with by the mine company.

The mine company also asked the government to allow it to test-operate in full-rated capacity.

Specifically, Lafayette wanted to optimize the efficiency of its detoxification circuit, which would only be attained when operating in a 100 percent rated capacity.

DENR allows 60-day extension of Lafayette test run

By Katherine G. Adraneda
Publication Date: [Thursday, September 14, 2006]

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/show_content.asp?article=275137

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Pollution Adjudication Board (PAB) has granted the request of Lafayette Philippines for a 60-day temporary lifting order (TLO), extending its previous 30-day test run in its Rapu-Rapu project in Albay.

In a three-page order, the PAB upheld the recommendation of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) in Region 5 to allow the 60-day extension of Lafayette’s test run, noting that mine operation was intermittent, thus affecting the efficiency of the mine facility’s detoxification system.

The MGB-Region 5 said that "sufficient time is necessary" for the Base Metal Plant’s parameters "to stabilize" considering that Lafayette has just conducted test-run operations using actual ore.

The PAB allowed Lafayette to proceed with the third stage of the test run at full capacity.

However, the simulation of the actual mine operation was subjected to a schedule, from 30-percent capacity on the first day, 60-percent capacity on the second day, and 80-percent capacity on the third day and progressively increased until full capacity is reached.

"After due deliberation and consultation, (Lafayette’s) request for a 60-day (TLO) is hereby granted which shall be reckoned from Sept. 9, 2006," stated the PAB order dated Sept. 11, which was approved by Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Angelo Reyes.

With the granting of Lafayette’s request, the PAB compelled the Australian-owned mining company to submit within five days from receipt of the order an update of specific actions or activities it will undertake to ensure all conditions previously imposed by the PAB are complied with.

Lafayette had filed before the PAB a motion for a 60-day extension of its test run for further "plant optimization stage.

Lafayette spokesperson Bayani Agabin said they thought it best to further their test run at this time to determine effectiveness of their plant and in order to have more accurate data of compliance with the government-set conditions.

"We deem it best at this time to seek for the extension of the test run rather than seek the permanent lifting of the CDO because we only have data for seven days at a partial (30 percent) rated capacity.

A 30-day or 60-day data at a full (100 percent) rated capacity would be best for accurate data on facility’s environmental compliance," Agabin explained to reporters during a minesite visit last week.

In the same PAB order, however, Lafayette was advised, "to exercise prudence and caution in making press releases which might unduly preempt the deliberations and decision of the board on the matter."

End of Lafayette test run met with protest-Greenpeace maintains firm spells disaster for Bicol

First posted 04:03pm (Mla time) Aug 10, 2006
By Nonoy EspinaINQ7.net
http://specials.inq7.net/theenvironmentreport/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=14543

ACTIVISITS from the international environmental group Greenpeace scaled the office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Quezon City on Thursday and unfurled a protest banner to mark the end of the 30-day test run granted to controversial Lafayette Mining on Rapu Rapu Island, Albay.

After reaching the roof of the DENR building, the activists unfurled a giant banner carrying the message, "Lafayette Mining: Countdown to an Ocean’s Disaster."

Beau Baconguis, Greenpeace Southeast Asia toxics campaigner, said around 25 activists from their group were held for about two hours by DENR guards but were eventually released around 11 p.m. “after they apparently decided not to file charges against us.”

She said they were hoping to meet Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes but neither he nor “his subordinates were present.”

“The only people who were there were in no position to make decisions or commitments,” said Baconguis.

Greenpeace has been protesting the Lafayette test run, calling it a prelude to the full resumption of the mining firm’s operations, which the group maintains will devastate the rich waters off the Bicol region in southern Luzon.

Lafayette’s operations were suspended late last year after two mine spills released cyanide and other pollutants into the seas around Rapu Rapu, killing marine life.

Despite a Malacañang-appointed fact-finding committee’s recommendation for the cancellation of Lafayette’s environmental clearance, the DENR allowed the test run on July 11.

“We just want to send a message that we don’t agree,” either with the decision to allow the test run or what Greenpeace expects will be the full resumption of mining operations, Baconguis said.

She dismissed the test run as a “tactic to make people accept the eventual full resumption” of Lafayette’s operations.

Baconguis also accused the DENR of a “lack of transparency” during the test run.
“They never disclosed who were with the monitoring team supposed to look at the test run,” she said.

While acknowledging that Reyes invited them to join the monitoring team, “the invitation was never formalized.”

She also cited the detention and questioning of Greenpeace worker David Andrade while he was collecting water samples from an allegedly polluted creek on July 25.

Andrade, who was taken in by police and alleged Lafayette security personnel together with his local guide and a boat man, was investigating a reported fish kill that the mining firm had described as a case of sabotage by its critics.
“Even locals opposed to Lafayette are being harassed,” Baconguis said.

The waters of the Bicol region are famed as the feeding grounds and lie along the migratory route of the whale shark. They are also home to five of seven known marine turtle species.
“Rapu Rapu Island is a dangerous place for a mine,” Greenpeace said. “Not only is it situated along the country’s typhoon belt, but also along a major fault, making it a high-risk area for mining catastrophes.”