Gov’t to pursue own mineral exploration – by Madelaine B. Miraflor (Manila Bulletin – May 10, 2021)

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The government also plans to conduct its own mineral explorations across different parts of the country following the implementation of Executive Order (EO) 130, which now allows the approval of new mining projects in the country.

Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Director Wilfredo Moncano said such a plan will prevent the disposal of government-owned mining assets for the wrong value.

“We also intend to do our own mineral exploration in mining assets held by the government, [through] PMO [Privatization Management Office], to provide updated geological information and evaluation of these mining assets so they could be disposed at a better price,” Moncano told Business Bulletin.

PMO is the successor agency of the Asset Privatization Trust (APT) that oversees the privatization of government assets and corporations. It operates under the Department of Finance (DOF).

Moncano said the MGB will focus its exploration efforts on PMO assets that have no legal issues. He noted that PMO-held mining assets –Bagacay Mines, Basay Copper Mines, Maricalum, Marcopper — have no scheduled public bidding yet, but there are still legal issues in some of these assets that need to be resolved.

For the rest of this article: https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/10/govt-to-pursue-own-mineral-exploration/