Philippines Keeps Ban on Open Pit Mining in Face of Pressure From Mining Industry

Workers carry sacks of ore materials to be processed to extract gold particles at a mining site in the village of Mt. Diwata, Monkayo town, Compotela valley on the southern island of Mindanao on July 16, 2012. The Philippines is believed to have some of the biggest mineral reserves in the world. TED ALJIBE/AFP/GettyImages

MANILA–The Philippine environment minister said on Wednesday, Nov. 22, that a ban on new open pit mining in the country would remain in place, with President Rodrigo Duterte rejecting government panel recommendations to reverse it.

The ban, implemented by former environment minister Regina Lopez from April covers new projects including the $5.9-billion copper-gold Tampakan project in southern Mindanao island, the biggest stalled mining venture in the Southeast Asian nation.