Last month, Oceana’s Didipio mine on northern Luzon was mentioned alongside a list of 23 mining companies that might have had their operations suspended by the Philippine Government’s Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR).
Given Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s hardline anti-drug campaign is causing international concern, corporates operating in the country have concerns about any moves towards nationalisation.
Oceana’s chief executive, Mick Wilkes, said the company had received a letter from DENR along with an audit report outlining findings and recommendations from a recent audit at Didipio.
According to the letter, Oceana had the opportunity to address the findings and recommendations from the audit report within seven days of receipt.
"I’m very confident our responses to the DENR will satisfy all of the findings and recommendations that have been raised," he said.
He said the audit findings related mostly to a need to further educate a broader group of stakeholders on specific aspects of the Didipio operations, while the "vast majority" of recommendations related to further expanding Oceana’s Information, Education and Communication programme.
The audit report noted that around the Didipio mine were illegal artisanal small-scale mining activities contributing to environmental degradation, with a recommendation government agencies stop the illegal operations, he said.
Throughout, Didipio had operated without interruption and its 2016 guidance for gold and copper production was "firmly maintained", Mr Wilkes said.
He highlighted the Didipio mine was nominated by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, an agency of the DENR, for the 2016 Presidential Most Environmentally Responsible Mining Operation for a third consecutive year.
He believed Didipio was "the template" for what Mr Duterte was seeking in terms of responsible mining.
