The government should step in and prevent the Aluminum Corp. of China (Chinalco) from making a $2-billion investment in the Tampakan copper and gold mine project in the tri-boundary of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Davao del Sur that has been opposed by the T’boli, B’laan and Manobo communities for years.
A recent Bloomberg News report indicated that Chinalco, which has been shopping for a big slice of the copper market by buying into mining companies prospecting for aluminum, copper and gold and other metals from Guinea to Peru, is supposedly wooing the wealthy Sy family, which controls the SM Group and BDO, the biggest commercial bank in the Philippines, and other smaller banks, to allow it to have a major share in Indophil Resources Phils., which owns Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI), the mine developer.
The Sys also hold a major stake in the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), which used to be the National Power Corp. of the Philippines (Napocor), which controlled power transmission before it was privatized. China already holds a 40% stake in NGCP, which has repeatedly condemned by consumers for recurrent blackouts, unannounced power outages due to maintenance operations, and rising power costs as the energy sector had been chopped up into distinct generation, transmission and distribution sectors, each of which bludgeons Filipino consumers with higher costs, particularly now that the industry relies on imported liquefied natural gas (LNG.)
SMI used to be managed by an Australian company that explored the nearly 10,000-hectare Tampakan concession, with some geologists and mining engineers confiding that they found gold and copper ores in shallow drill sites, adding that assays showed that the ores contain higher quantities of both metals. The gigantic oil and metals trader Glencore eventually took over SMI but sold out in 2015 after South Cotabato banned open pit mining and opposition against the project intensified. The massacre of a B’laan woman and her two children by soldiers worsened the situation.
The ban on open pit mining was eventually overturned, to the eternal glee of the Alcantara family, the San Miguel Corp. (SMC), D. M. Consunji, Inc. (DMCI) and other companies that had badgered the government to allow explorations for coal, copper and gold, manganese and even nickel in South Cotabato. DMCI was allegedly behind the massacre of eight T’boli and Manobo farmers in December 2017 for opposing the coffee project of the construction company. The Sys have been lending generously to Indophil Resources, their interest protected by their policy of having board seats in companies with huge debts to their banks. Eventually, the Sys take over these companies, as what happened with Indophil Resources, and will now preside over the future of the Tampakan mine.
The trouble with Chinalco taking a substantial stake in the Tampakan mine is that Chinalco is controlled by the Chinese state, like the Chinese partners of the Sys at NGCP, as well as the builders of the Kaliwa-Kanan Dam in Rizal and Quezon provinces. The Chinese corporation that dug up the dam site and deforested the area has been accused of crafting phony “free prior informed” (FPIC) consent from the uprooted Remontado and Dumagat inhabitants and a questionable environmental compliance certificate (ECC) dished out by the Duterte regime. The Chinese have also been involved in the 23 reclamation projects in Manila Bay, which have been blamed for the deadly floods that Metro Manila after Typhoon Carina dumped rainfall that surpassed the record of Typhoon Ondoy.
There is no sense for the Sys to take in Chinalco as partner in Tampakan. The SM Group has more cash to spend for the project, if it can win the assent of the T’boli, B’laan, Manobo and other indigenous people (IP) in the nearly 10,000-hectare concession area of SMI across three provinces. Chinalco may be dying to join the Tampakan project since China is competing to have a lion’s share of the copper market. Copper is a key element for the defense, electronics and manufacturing industries. Yet, the Chinese have had a bad record for treating African miners, with clashes erupting between Africans and arrogant Chinese managers, leading to the deaths of many Chinese. In Pakistan, Chinese work gangs have been ambushed. In one African country, the mercenary Wagner Corp. attacked and killed Chinese workers and executives, with Beijing not saying a word.
On Aug. 20, 2024, the trade journal Mining Technology noted that for the estimated 17-year lifespan of the Tampakan mine, which was discovered by Filipino prospectors 30 years ago, it is expected to have an annual average yield of 375,000 metric tons (MT) of copper and 360,000 ounces of gold. It means 6,375,000 MT of copper and 6,120,000 ounces of gold. This is a huge pile that means big revenues for the Philippine government, employment for thousands and progress for the IP communities. Chinalco is gunning to join the fun, so to speak, as Tampakan mine is supposed to commence full-blast operations in 2026.
