IN CANADA, a major association of mining companies says that of approximately 4,300 projects now being undertaken by Canadian mining firms overseas, only “15 to 20” have attracted high profile controversy.

The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) adds that anti-mining groups give a distorted picture of the activity of Canadian mining companies abroad. The mining industry has a constructive relationship with development and research nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), says PDAC, but there are a number of anti-mining NGOs that “are not interested in constructive engagement and identifying effective solutions but are intent on frustrating or stopping exploration and mining projects through the dissemination of misinformation and the generation of conflict within local communities.”

PDAC complains as well that recent cases have shown that “implementing good (corporate social responsibility) practices is no guarantee that companies will avoid becoming the target of such groups and their campaigns.”

To be fair, TVI is not the only Canadian mining firm with presence in the Philippines that has attracted the ire of mining industry monitors in the Philippines and in Canada itself. So too has Crew Gold, which operates in the Philippines as Crew Development Corporation, as has Mindoro Resources Limited (MRL), with Philippine NGOs providing their counterparts in Canada with news about the companies’ activities.

Table 1: Canadian Mining Companies Operating in the Philippines Source: MGB
LOCATION	TENEMENT HOLDER/PERMITTEE/OPERATOR	TOTAL DISCLOSED PROJECT COST (in million dollars)
Sitio Canatuan, Bgy. Tabayo, Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte	TVI Resources Development Philippines Inc.	57.57
Maco, Compostela Valley	Apex Mining Corp. Inc (Crew Gold)	36.58
Victoria, Mindoro Oriental	Crew Minerals	1,100.09
Jabonga, Santiago, Tublay, Agusan del Norte*	MRL Gold Phils., Inc.	3.15
Balabag, Bayog, Zamboanga Sibugay	TVI Resources Development Philippines Inc.	2
Bgy. Camanlangan, New Bataan, Compostela Valley	Philco Mining Corporation (Sur American)	5
Sitio Capcapo, Licuaan-Baay, Abra	Jabel Corporation (Kadabra Mining Corp., Olympus Pacific Minerals, Inc.)	48
Bgy. Balibago, Lobo, Batangas	MRL Gold Phils., Inc.	4.45
Bgy. Balibago, Lobo, Batangas	MRL Gold Phils., Inc.	2.02
Camanlangan, Panay and Fatima New Bataan, Compostela Valley	Philco Mining Corporation (Sur American)	0.1
Bgy. Camanlangan, New Bataan, Compostela Valley	Philco Mining Corporation (Sur American)	0.1
Malimono and Mainit, Surigao del Norte	MRL Gold Phils., Inc.	0.1
TOTAL		1,259.16

In 2001, the Philippine government revoked the mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA) it had granted to a Crew subsidiary in the island of Mindoro, acknowledging the need to protect critical watersheds and food security of the province. Much of the opposition to the P30-billion nickel mining project centered on a proposed Submarine Tailings Disposal (STD), where a pipeline would dispose of mine tailings into the fertile fishing grounds of Tablas Strait. This strait is also a route for migratory tuna, and whale and dolphin sightings are common there.

"The president sustained our observation that the Aglubang mining project of Crew transcends the threshold of sustainable development because of technical and social evidence," then DENR Secretary Heherson Alvarez told reporters. He added that the president agreed with the DENR’s assessment that the project would cause “irreparable damage to the environment.”

MRL, meanwhile, has been granted an MPSA covering about 5,000 hectares in Agata, Surigao del Norte, for which the company recently secured an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC). It is also pursuing exploration projects in Lobo, Batangas and Pan de Azucar, Iloilo.

MRL has already made pacts with the Mamanwa and Manobo who live near its Agata nickel project. Under the agreement, MRL would pay a royalty equivalent to one percent of the gross output of any project to the tribe The company has also committed to provide skills training, employment opportunities, educational scholarships and medical services to tribe members.

The agreement also “ensures the preservation and development of the community’s culture, traditions and institutions, and the protection of burial grounds and sacred places,” according to MRL.

Unlike TVI, MRL says that it has a “harmonious relationship” with indigenous people in Agata. “We sought the help of the local government units — the mayor, the barangay captain — then we just show them our sincerity,” says MRL Vice President for Explorations Edsel Abrasaldo. “It's easier to convince them if we tell them we're still in exploration (and that) there will be basically almost (a) negligible effect sa environment as a matter of really convincing them.”

MRL is now concentrating wholly on its projects in the Philippines. In the past, however, it had been criticized by Canadian NGOs for sharing ownership of its Burmese project with a company controlled by Burma’s military junta. Commenting on MRL’s Agata project, MiningWatch’s Coumans says that MRL co-hosted a meeting of “very carefully selected” indigenous people from Canada “to talk to indigenous people here and advocate in favor of mining.”

The program was funded by the Canadian government, she says. But she adds, “In Canada, our government has terrible relationships with our indigenous peoples. There are blockades, there are hunger strikes, there are legal actions by our indigenous peoples against our government. So the Canadian government is not a place that should be telling anyone else what they should be doing with their indigenous people.”