PMEA MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP MEETING, UPDATES

PMEA monthly membership meeting and industry updates

By Marcelle P. Villegas

Mining events are slowly transitioning back to faceto-face gatherings, and this is something that Philippine Mining and Exploration Association (PMEA) has been initiating since April with their hybrid meeting. Last 6 June 2022, PMEA’s Monthly Membership Meeting resumes with several attendees who were present at Manila Elks Club that evening.

Mr. Joey Nelson Ayson, PMEA President, reported some PMEA matters and industry updates/news from MGB. Here are some of the topics he discussed:

~ 9th Annual PMEA Invitational Golf tournament - Proposed venues and dates are not yet set. (Perhaps it will be scheduled early in August of this year.) The Golf Committee Chair is Mr. George Yap III. ~ 4 May 2022 – Atty. Ernesto D. Adobo Jr. was designated as Supervising Undersecretary for Mining Affairs. ~ 1 June 2022 – Glenn Noble was reassigned back as MGB MIMAROPA Regional Director. ~ MGB’s current new projects (Phase 1) include 7 new nickel mines, 2 gold mines, 4 iron/chromite mines, 2 offshore marine sand projects, 3 limestone projects supporting cement plants, and 18 non-metallic mines (aggregates, industrial sand, and gravel).

For upcoming mining projects (Phase 2), there will be 8 new nickel mining projects, 7 new gold mining projects, 4 new copper mining projects, 2 new iron/chromite mining projects, 12 new non-metallic mining projects (feldspar, basalt), 7 new limestone mining projects, and 5 new magnetite sand mining projects. ~ As for the top producers for the first quarter of 2022, we have the following:

GOLD 1. MGP / PGPRC (1,859 kgs) 2. OGPI (917 kgs) 3. Philsaga Co-o (706 kgs)

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for Geology, replacing the late geologist, Mr. Rolan-do “Rolly” Peña, who passed away on the 30th of November 2018 due to a road accident. Mr. Peña is considered one of the most important geologists in the Philippines. He wrote the “Lexicon of Philip-pine Stratigraphy” (published in 2008) and edited “The Geology of the Philippines” (volumes 1 and 2, Second Edition, published in 2004) These two books are considered the “Bible of geologists” and im-portant in the study of geological history and geo-hazard predictions. [1]

Atty Penarroyo’s new role as PRB Chairperson offers the opportunity to continue his good friend and former work colleague, Rolly Peña’s legacy of academic excellence in the field of Geology.

On his social media posts last March, Atty Penarroyo stated, “Thank you to the following industry or-ganizations for endorsing my appointment - the National Geothermal Association of the Philippines, Petroleum Association of the Philippines, and Philippine Mining and Exploration Association.”

His position as Chairperson in the PRB will take effect for the next three years.

Reference:

Naredo Dacanay, Barbara Mae (10 Dec. 2018). “Rolando Peña: Portrait of a rock scientist as a rare gem”. ABS.CBN News. Retrieved from https://news.abs-cbn.com/ ancx/culture/spotlight/12/10/18/ rolando-pea-portrait-of-a-rockscientist-as-a-rare-gem

Additional reading:

“Rolly Peña: The Revolutionary as a Geologist” (20 Feb. 2020) by Atty Ronnie Penarroyo - https:// www.philippine-resources.com/ articles/2020/2/rolly-pena-therevolutionary-as-a-geologist