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Gen. Santos City, 6 September 2011
Sagittarius Mines, Inc (SMI) announces the start of a series of public consultation meetings as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process for its proposed Tampakan Copper-Gold Project in southern Mindanao.
During the next two weeks, SMI will present its draft Mine Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to community stakeholders, including details of the potential environmental and social impacts of the proposed mining operation as well as SMI’s comprehensive mitigation strategies for managing these impacts.
The public consultation meetings will be conducted in the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project’s four host municipalities on the following dates:
- 6 September: Tampakan, South Cotabato
- 8 September: Kiblawan, Davao del Sur
- 13 September: Malungon, Sarangani
- 15 September: Columbio, Sultan Kudarat
SMI’s latest round of stakeholder consultation has been on-going since June 2011, during which time the company has consulted with more than 2,000 individuals from 64 stakeholder groups in private meetings to gather feedback and comments on the draft EIS.
Stakeholder input gathered from both the private and public consultation meetings will be considered prior to the formal submission of the EIS to the Philippine government later this year to support an application for the Mine’s Environmental Compliance Certificate.
SMI President Peter Forrestal said the release of the Mine EIS, in June 2011 marked a key milestone for SMI and its stakeholders.
“We have consulted extensively with our host communities and other key stakeholders over the past two years regarding our plans for the project.
“In 2009, stakeholder input was sought for the development of the proposed mine plan and EIS through a series of private consultation meetings and four public scoping meetings.
“This feedback, together with the results of our EIA studies, was incorporated into our project designs and management plans which have been developed in accordance with leading environmental and industry practices.
“We look forward to receiving further feedback from our stakeholders over the coming weeks in order to finalize the EIS for formal submission to the Philippine government later this year.
“If approved, we believe the Tampakan Project will be a blueprint for ethical modern mineral development in the Philippines and represents an unprecedented opportunity for the Philippines to benefit from its natural resources,” he said.
Separate environmental impact assessment studies for related off-site infrastructure, including a power station, port facility, transmission lines and concentrate pipeline, are currently underway and are expected to be completed in 2012.
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Contact Person:
John B. Arnaldo
Corporate Communications Manager
Sagittarius Mines, Inc.
Mobile: (+63 928) 550-3847
SMI Media Care Hotline
Mobile: (+63 918) 864-4685
Notes to editors:
ABOUT THE TAMPAKAN PROJECT
The Tampakan Copper-Gold Project is located on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, approximately 65 kilometres north of General Santos City. The Project is situated on the boundaries of four provinces: South Cotabato, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat and Davao del Sur, and represents one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits in the Southeast Asia-Western Pacific region.
The Tampakan Project is a 2.4 billion metric ton deposit, containing 13.5 million metric tons of copper and 15.8 million ounces of gold at a 0.3% cut-off grade. In 2010, the Project employed approximately 372 employees and rotational shift work for a further 1,185 contractors.
The Project is operated by Philippine-based affiliate Sagittarius Mines, Incorporated (SMI), whose 40% controlling equity is a joint venture among Xstrata Copper (62.5%) and Indophil Resources NL (37.5%). The 60% non-controlling equity shareholders of SMI are the Tampakan Mining Corporation and Southcot Mining Corporation (known as the Tampakan Group of Companies).
SMI submitted the Mining Project Feasibility Study for the Tampakan Project to the Philippine government in April 2010 and is progressing with the Mine and Off-site Infrastructure Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs). SMI expects to submit the Mine Environmental Impact Assessment (EIS) to the government by the second half of 2011.
Subject to all necessary community, government and shareholder approvals, SMI estimates that production from the $5.9 billion Tampakan Project could commence by 2016. If developed, it is estimated that the Project would contribute an average of PhP134 billion (USD2.8 billion) to Philippine GDP; an equivalent of 1% annual increase to the Philippine GDP over the life of the Project.
ABOUT XSTRATA COPPER
Xstrata Copper is the fourth largest global copper producer with attributable mined production in 2010 of 913,500 tonnes of copper in cathodes and concentrates. The company is also one of the world’s largest producers of smelter and refined copper, including from third party materials.
Headquartered in Brisbane, Xstrata Copper is one of the commodity business units within the major global diversified mining group Xstrata plc. Its mining and metallurgical operations and development projects span eight countries: Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Peru, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and the USA. Its operations and projects are administered through a regional divisional management structure, which ensures that critical decisions are taken close to the related businesses. It also has a recycling business (Xstrata Recycling) with plants in the United States and offices in Canada and Asia.