Mining in Rapu-rapu, Albay

BUSINESS WORLD Vol. XIX, No. 85
Tuesday, November 22, 2005 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
The Nation

Lafayette ban stays pending compliance to bureau’s directive

The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) office in Region 5 has effectively formalized the stoppage in the operations of Lafayette Mining Ltd. in Rapu-Rapu, Albay after suspending the company’s wastewater discharge permit and its chemical control order following the recent mine spill at the Australian firm’s gold plant.

The permit suspension order directs Lafayette to "suspend any use of cyanide in any processing in the project" and prevented it from discharging tailings from the project.

The order says the suspensions are in effect until such time as the EMB finds that the tailings management and disposal system are capable of containing the tailings and that the cyanide detoxification plant is capable of reducing cyanide levels.

A Lafayette official confirmed receipt of the permit suspension order, saying the company saw "no issue as this is what we have been working through with the EMB to resolve quickly."

He did not, however, indicate a time line within which it would be able to comply with the EMB order, and did not say how it would affect the roughly 500 personnel who work for the plant.

Reynulfo Juan, Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Bicol regional director, said the suspension of the permits will temporarily disallow Lafayette’s use of its tailings ponds and its use of the chemical cyanide in its operations.

He explained this will necessarily affect Lafayette’s operations with its base metals plant because the same equipment will be affected and the same chemicals will be used as well.

"So titigil ang lahat ng operations nila [they will have to stop all operations]," Mr. Juan said, "because they will still use the same system even with the base metals plant."

Lafayette, in a statement earlier, said it had commenced the commissioning phase of its base metals flotation treatment plant at the Rapu-Rapu project in Albay. This meant the decommissioning of its gold plant.

"Changeover to base metals production will see the curtailment of gold production from the oxide resource. Significantly, during operations it has been identified that more gold oxide resource exists than was originally modeled and this will be scheduled for processing at the end of the base metal production," Lafayette had said.

In the permit suspension orders, the EMB said Lafayette was found to have violated its wastewater discharge permit which specified that no overflows would be discharged from its pond. A discharged of effluent which is not at a par to DENR standards is a ground for a revocation of the permit.

The order also stated that Lafayette was also found to have violated the chemical control order conditions which stipulated that no cyanide could be discharged to the environment without prior approval from the department.

The MGB has asked Lafayette also to revise the rehabilitation plan it has submitted to the bureau two days after the mine spill incident.

The Rapu-Rapu Polymetallic project is one of the government’s flagship mining projects with the recent revitalization of the mining industry. It is one of the 23 priority mining projects and has one of the largest foreign capital infusions among the 23.

As the first foreign-funded mining project in 30 years, the Rapu-Rapu project is expected to boost the government’s planned revitalization of the local mining industry and invite more foreign investors into the sector. -- Beverly T. Natividad