The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) issued revised guidelines on the classification and reporting standards of exploration results, mineral resources and ore reserves.
The agency said in a statement yesterday the new guidelines, embodied in DENR Administrative Order (DAO) No. 2023-05 recently signed by Secretary Antonia Loyzaga, amended DAO 2010-09 to allow the local mining industry to adopt with advances and upgrades of internationally accepted standards as set out in the Philippine Mineral Reporting Code of 2020 (PMRC 2020).
DENR said the compliance of mining contractors, permittees, permit holders and operators and mining applicants with the new DAO is seen to expedite the evaluation and development of mining projects and will result in the harmonization and streamlining of the entire reporting process related to mineral exploration results.
Among other changes, DAO 2023-05 updated some terminologies, such as replacing “Competent Person” with Accredited Competent Person” (ACP) to refer to an industry professional duly accredited by the Philippine Society of Mining Engineers, the Geological Society of the Philippines and the Society of the Metallurgical Engineers of the Philippines, or other similar professional organizations accredited by the Professional Regulation Commission.
It also replaced the terms “ore reserve” with “mineral reserve,” and “potential or target mineral resources” with “exploration targets.”
The updated guidelines also entailed consideration of “modifying factors,” which are applied to mineral resources to support mine planning and final evaluation of the economic viability of mineral deposits before they are converted to mineral reserves which may include mining, processing, metallurgical, infrastructure, economic, marketing, legal, environmental, social and governmental factors.
The latest DAO also provided an expanded or detailed checklist of assessment or reporting criteria that must be considered by an ACP in preparing a report on exploration results, mineral resources or mineral reserves.
The amended guidelines also introduced technical studies, which include scoping, pre-feasibility, and feasibility studies.
Other revisions include the required reporting of metal equivalents, as well as non-technical aspects of reporting of items, notably commodity pricing and marketing, permitting, legal requirements and sustainability considerations.
The updated DAO also explicitly requires ACPs to prepare necessary reports for public disclosure especially on the reporting of exploration results, mineral resources, mineral reserves and metallurgical test works that form part of a feasibility study of a mineral project.
The DENR provided mineral industry players with a transition period of two years from the approval of the new guideline to adjust to revisions. -Jed Macapagal
