PMEA Blog

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Smelting Corporation Bhd (MSC) has proposed to acquire a 30% stake in the Rapu Rapu project, which is involved in mining copper, zinc, gold and silver, in the Philippines for US$18.90mil (RM59.7mil).
MSC said on Thursday that it had signed a framework agreement with Philco Resources Ltd, LG International Corporation and Korea Resources […]

From: Philippine Daily Inquirer
By Ephraim Aguilar
LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines — Indebted by almost $240 million, the Rapu-Rapu group of companies operating a copper and zinc mine in Rapu-Rapu island town in Albay will seek court protection from creditors even as it denied claims by anti-mining groups that the mine firm has gone bankrupt.
Carlos G. Dominguez, chairman […]

From: Philippine Daily Inquirer
By TJ Burgonio
MANILA, Philippines — The financial troubles of Lafayette Mining should prod the government to close down the Australian firm’s mining project in Albay, an anti-mining alliance said on Wednesday.
Lafayette Mining, which owns 74 percent of Lafayette Philippines that runs an open pit mine in Rapu-Rapu island, entered voluntary administration Tuesday […]

Nov. 23 (Bloomberg) — Lafayette Mining Ltd., an Australian company with a Philippine copper mine, said negotiations with a major potential investor to pay off debt were continuing, and the outcome was now uncertain. The shares plunged.
“The directors are of the opinion that the company continues to be a going concern,” Melbourne-based Lafayette said in […]

The exploitation of a country’s mineral resources can only be justified if it does not irreparably damage the environment and if it benefits the community and the nation as a whole. This is beyond all argument. “(From the DENR Summary Report on Rapu-Rapu)
The US$42-million (P2.2. billion) Rapu-Rapu Polymetal-lic Mining Project is intended to produce gold, […]

Lafayette Philippines has accused anti-mining groups of what it described as irresponsible and misguided advocacy that is actually anti-poor and economically destructive.
“These groups are paid to taint mining companies and seek to close them down in the guise of protecting the environment. For them, it is actually a job, which makes them fake champions because […]

An elder from the remote Philippine island of Rapu Rapu has made his way to Melbourne to call on the Australian firm Lafayette to halt its mining operations. Antonio Mingoy Casitas has brought a petition signed by 3,000 fellow islanders demanding that the mine be shut down; they say it’s polluted nearby land and waterways, […]

For the nearly 50,000 residents of Rapu-Rapu, Albay and the adjoining municipality of Prieto Diaz, Sorsogon, fishing has been the primary livelihood for generations.
The fish that they catch from Lagonoy Gulf and Albay Gulf is not just their staple food, it is also a main source of income for the communities, no matter how […]

When Australia’s Lafayette Mining Ltd began its polymetallic mining operations on the eastern Philippine island of Rapu-Rapu two years ago, it was met with stiff resistance from residents and environmental activists.
“They are not welcome here,” Domingo Guinan, a 40-year-old fisherman and farmer, said as he bluntly voiced out his opposition to Lafayette’s mining project.

Rapu-Rapu, Philippines - When Australia’s Lafayette Mining Ltd began its polymetallic mining operations on the eastern Philippine island of Rapu-Rapu two years ago, it was met with stiff resistance from residents and environmental activists.
‘They are not welcome here,’ Domingo Guinan, a 40-year-old fisherman and farmer, said as he bluntly voiced out his opposition to Lafayette’s […]