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Mines Bureau to crack down on illegal black sand mining in Cagayan


The Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources will cooperate with the National Bureau of Investigation to crack down on illegal magnetite sand mining in Cagayan Valley.   Saying that complaints have been “piling up,” Mines Bureau Director Leo Jasareno said in an interview Tuesday that the bureau will field a team to conduct an investigation on the matter. "Our focus now is to put to a halt all illegal mining operations until the moratorium on permits is lifted," he said. Illegally mined magnetite sand or black sand is sold to buyers in Asia. China is the biggest buyer of magnetite sand, using it in steel production. In August, the MGB suspended the operations of Chinese firm Nicua Mining Corp. after Nicua was found to have used unsound methods, resulting in a waste leak that polluted the nearby Bito Lake; employed Chinese nationals as workers within the mines, but without the necessary permits; and authorized a second party to mine within the mining area without permission from the Mines Bureau. In June, the MGB confiscated 50,000 metric tons (MT) of magnetite sand in Paracale, Camarines Norte. Mining firm Uni-Dragon and its partner Philippine Bao Tong had defied the MGB’s cease-and-desist order issued in 2011.  “The shipment and extraction of the magnetite sand are considered illegal because, aside from the fact that Uni-Dragon and Philippine Bao Tong could not present a Mineral Ore Export Permit from MGB, the mining companies are not allowed to commercially extract and dispose the minerals because the two Mineral Production Sharing Agreements [MPSAs] issued to them are still under exploration,” Jasareno said. — BM, GMA News

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