DENR chief asks Nickel Asia to stop Manicani ore exports

The Philippine government has asked Nickel Asia Corp. to stop shipping nickel ore stockpiles overseas from Manicani island in the central Philippines, the environment secretary said on Wednesday, citing environmental concerns.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Regina Lopez told a business forum that 1.4 million tons of nickel ore on Manicani island "must be returned to the soil."

Lopez noted that ore transport at the Manicani mine in Eastern Samar must be halted to prevent further environmental degradation as a result of excessive soil extraction.

“In our audit, they are taking too much soil. They are taking the soil out and it goes to China. We are suspending the retrieving of the stockpiles, to address the ecological balance,” Lopez told reporters on the sidelines of the FINEX forum in Makati City.

Lopez proposed that nickel ores be used for mine restoration instead. “Put it back in the hole,” she said.

In response, Nickel Asia said that removing the stockpiles is the "right thing to do.

"On the Manicani issue, our subsidiary Hinatuan Mining Corp. has not engaged in mining since the late 1990s and has been directed by the DENR-MGB last year to remove the stockpiles of mostly low grade limonite ore that was accumulated during the mining operations then," the miner said in an emailed statement.

"NAC have stressed to Secretary Lopez that the removal of the stockpiles is the right thing to do from an environmental perspective, as it will do away with any potential environmental impacts that such stockpiles might pose, while at the same time providing badly needed employment and tax revenues.

"We have not received any order from the DENR-MGB to cease the removal of the stockpiles," it added. — With Reuters/Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News