TVI Pacific Inc., in a statement, announced that its Philippine affiliate, TVI Resource Development Phils. Ltd. (TVIRD), and Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. have decided to discontinue negotiations in respect of a proposed joint venture for the development of TVI's Canatuan sulphide project in the Philippines.

"The companies have concluded that they wish to focus all efforts on their respective core investments at Canatuan (in the case of TVI) and the Toledo Copper Mine and Berong Nickel Project (in the case of Atlas)," the statement said.

The statement added, "TVI also reaffirmed that it and TVIRD continue to engage in discussions with other parties to secure funding to develop the Canatuan sulphide project and to reduce the Company&s working capital deficiency."

TVI, in a statement, describes the Canatuan Sulphide Project this way: "The Canatuan mine currently produces gold and silver doré and, following the planned construction of the sulphide plant, will transition into the production of copper and zinc concentrates from a sulphide deposit underlying the current open pit operation."

TVI Resource Development Philippines, Inc., an affiliate of the Canadian mining company TVI Pacific, Inc., has a government permit to mine about 500 hectares in sitio Canatuan, barangay Tabayo, Siocon town, Zamboanga del Norte.

The Subanon tribe, on the other hand, was issued a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) covering about 8,000 hectares in Siocon. The CADT covers the entire mining area of TVI.

TVI has plans to expand its mining operations in Siocon. The company has applied for mining exploration in about 4,000 hectares in the mountains of Siocon.

"This (TVI–Atlas joint venture negotiations discontinued) is another small victory of the Subanon community against large–scale mining," Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center–Kasama sa Kalikasan (LRC–KSK/Friends of the Earth Philippines), a policy, legal research and advocacy institution, said in a statement.

Late January of this year, Subanon community and support groups urged Atlas Mining to withdraw its plans for a joint venture project with TVI Resource Development Philippines. The Subanon community, headed by Timuay Jose Anoy and Timuay Nanding Mudai, visited Atlas office in Mandaluyong City to meet and urge the mining company's officials to withdraw from the Subanons& ancestral domains.

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