CAGAYAN DE ORO City, Jan. 10, 2011—The Mamanwa tribe of Agusan del Norte has denounced the encroachment of a Canadian mining company into their ancestral domain.
The tribe’s leader, Bae Genoviva A. Colangan, wrote the compliance officer/ombudsman of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), informing the company of the Mindoro Resources Limited’s (MRL) use of its investment for mineral exploration purposes,
In a release posted on its website, MRL disclosed that it has received Canadian $2 million from the IFC, a member of the World Bank Group and is the largest development institution focused on the private sector in developing countries.
“Through the support of our institutional shareholder base, which invested more than 50 percent of the total offering, and a new set of investors, the funds raised will allow Mindoro to press ahead with the feasibility study program into an integrated nickel project at Agata. The funds will also enable continued drilling of the exploration targets with the objective of growing the resource base to support a major new nickel project development in the Philippines. In addition the company will review and drill test its outstanding portfolio of drill-ready gold and copper-gold prospects,” said MRL president and chief executive officer Jon Dugdale in a release posted on MRL’s website.
Dugdale was referring to the MRL’s Agata nickel project in Barangay Bunga, Jabonga, Agusan del Norte, which the Mamanwa tribe claimed as part of its ancestral domain.
In her letter to the IFC compliance officer/ombudsman, Colangan said that MRL “entered into our ancestral land without proper information and consent from us.”
“They don’t even respect indigenous people’s right,” she said.
Colangan said the tribe is against mining “because we don’t want our forest to be destroyed.”
“Destroying our forest will affect our daily needs” because the tribe traditionally sources its livelihood from the forest.
Mining and/or mineral exploration on the tribe’s ancestral land will displace the tribesfolk, affect the tribesfolk’s relationship with each other that will eventually cause the disappearance of their indigenous culture, she pointed out.
“We, the Mamanwa tribe will be directly affected as a consequence of the MRL mining company project,” she added.
Her letter to IFC was also signed by 29 traditional elders and leaders of the Mamanwa tribe.
In IFC’s “Summary of Proposed Investment,” one entry dated June 8, 2010 said that the Agata nickel project in Agusan del Norte was originally released by IFC in September 24, 2008.
But “the project was not submitted to the IFC Board as exploration activities ceased due to the global financial crisis. In April 2010, the company restarted exploration and IFC undertook its second review.”
“Mindoro Resources Ltd (“Mindoro”, or the “Company”) objective is to build a successful exploration and mining company in the Philippines with focus on nickel, copper and gold,” the IFC SPI continued.
MRL has 75% interest in the Agata nickel laterite deposit in the Agusan del Norte.
The Agata nickel prospect has the potential to become a sizeable nickel mine with resources possibly in excess of 100 million tons at comparatively attractive nickel grades.
Agata has a NI 43-101 compliant measured and indicated resource of 36.5 million wet metric tonnes at 1.11% nickel (dry), containing 657 million pounds of nickel and 24 million pounds of cobalt. MRL also owns interests in gold, copper, and copper-gold prospects in the Surigao District, Batangas District on Luzon Island, and on Pan de Azucar Island.
“IFC equity investment will support MRL’s resource drilling, feasibility and other studies, and exploration activities for its nickel, copper and gold prospects,” IFC said in its SPI regarding MRL as posted on its website. (Bong D. Fabe)
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