Apex rejoins COMP, PMSEA

The company said that instead of blaming small mining firms, the organization should boost policies on mining operations.

BAGUIO CITY — Two years after it resigned over policy disagreement, publicly listed Apex Mining Company said it will rejoin the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) and the Philippine Mines Safety and Environment Association (PMSEA).

This was announced by Apex Mining chairman emeritus Walter Brown during his speech at the 66th Annual Mine Safety and Environment Conference.

“We are rejoining the Chamber of Mines. The reason we left is something of the past… We will all work together for change. There is no stopping us now,” Brown said.

Brown explained that they already settled its past disagreement with COMP, which is currently chaired by Gerard Brimo.

With this new development, he said they will work closely with other mining groups to champion responsible mining.

To recall, Apex left COMP in 2017 due to their difference in its stance on President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-illegal mining campaign where he urged the late environment chief Gina Lopez to restore and rehabilitate all areas damaged by all mining activities.

Answering the president’s order, COMP blamed the small-scale mining operations over the destruction of the environment.

At the time, Apex maintained that large-scale mining should not blame pocket mining for the destruction of the environment.

The company said that instead of blaming small mining firms, the organization should boost policies on mining operations.

For the January to September period, Apex said its consolidated income only stood at P227 million amid higher production output. This was 31 percent lower than the recorded income in its year-ago level.