KORONADAL CITY—Owing to pressures, members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan in South Cotabato will embark on open pit mining site visits across the country before they will decide on the long–delayed environment code that bans large–scale open pit mining in the area, officials said on Thursday.

Vice Governor Eliordo U. Ogena, presiding officer of the provincial legislative board, said they will visit mining sites recommended by Sagittarius Mines, Inc. and the local Catholic Church, which is staunchly opposing the project.

Sagittarius, which is being managed by global mining player Xstrata Copper, is eyeing huge copper and gold deposits in the mountains of Tampakan, South Cotabato. The so–called Tampakan project also straddles the towns of Columbio in Sultan Kudarat and Kiblawan in Davao del Sur.

Aside from pressure from both pro and anti–mining groups, Malacañang has formally intervened through Secretary Jose L. Atienza, Jr. of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, who recently wrote the provincial board a letter asking it to strike out the open pit ban from the environment code, Mr. Ogena revealed.

"Our site inspections on mining projects, which will be shouldered by the provincial government, will allow us to decide on what will be for the greatest interest for the people of South Cotabato," the vice governor noted.

"We want to look at the situation there in relation to our province... there's actually pressure from both sides," he said.

Board member Jose M. Madanguit, chairperson of the environment committee, said they are planning to conduct open mining site visits in the first to the second week of June.

Identified areas for the ocular inspection are Siocon in Zamboanga del Norte, Iligan City and Surigao del Sur.

"We (board members) decided to give way to the request of the governor (Daisy Avance P. Fuentes) that we hold in abeyance our meeting to discuss the (approval of the) environment code. Since there is still no open pit mining in our province, the governor wants us to see open pit mining areas with our very own eyes," Mr. Madanguit said.

The provincial board had earlier set Friday (May 30) the floor deliberations for the approval of the environment code.

Fr. Romeo Q. Catedral, social action director of the Diocese of Marbel, has appealed to the board members to retain the ban on open pit, stressing this endangers the environment, human health and food security.

Early this month, the provincial board held a public forum in this city consisted mostly of pro–mining supporters. Senior management officials of Sagittarius were seen in the crowd.

Sagittarius has announced that based on initial studies, open pit will be the likely method that will be employed once the firm starts commercial operations targeted for 2012.

Roy D. Antonio, Sagittarius senior corporate affairs coordinator, said the company will make final announcements later this year what method will it employ to excavate the resources. Based on an earlier study, the firm has announced the likely method will be open pit mining.

The upgraded measured, indicated and inferred resource for the Tampakan project totals 2.2 billion tons at a grade of 0.6% copper and 0.2 grams per ton gold and contains 12.8 million tons of copper and 15.2 million ounces of gold using a 0.3% copper cut–off grade.

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