QuestionsQuestions (Commonwealth Act No. 137)
Mineral lands and minerals are generally limited to (1) Philippine citizens, or (2) corporations/associations at least 60% of whose capital is owned and held by Philippine citizens, subject to existing rights, grants, leases, or concessions.
No. Under SEC. 4, ownership and the right to use land for non-mining purposes do not include ownership of, nor the right to extract or utilize, minerals found on or under the surface.
With exceptions for soil supporting organic life and ordinary earth/gravel/sand/stone used for building or construction, all inorganic substances found in solid, liquid, gaseous, or intermediate states are minerals under the Act.
Mineral lands are those where minerals exist in sufficient quantity or quality to justify the necessary expenditures to be incurred in extracting and utilizing such minerals.
Generally, no. SEC. 26 provides that in private lands, no prospecting is allowed except by the owner during the first year from the effectivity of the Act. After that, any prospecting on private lands requires the owner’s written permission per SEC. 27.
No prospecting is allowed in (a) mineral reserves proclaimed closed to mining location, (b) lands covered by patented mining claims, (c) lands where minerals were discovered prior to the Act and claimed by discoverer or successors, (d) lands already located for mining leases by other prospectors, and (e) near/under buildings, cemeteries, bridges, highways, waterways, railroads, reservoirs, dams, or other public/private works (with detailed rules to be in regulations).
SEC. 25 prohibits officers and employees of the government whose duties relate to administration or disposition of mineral resources from prospecting, locating, leasing, or holding mineral lands directly or indirectly.
The right to locate a mining claim is based in all cases on the discovery of mineral in the claim area.
A lode discovery is mineral found in place/position where originally formed in the rock (even if high or low assay). A placer discovery is mineral found in loose/fragmentary/broken rocks, boulders, floats, beds or deposits (including forms other than those described for lode claims).
The locator must locate immediately or as soon as possible, but not more than 30 days after discovery; if no location is made within that period, the right to locate for that land is deemed waived.
Under SEC. 34, it must be recorded within 60 days after completion of acts of location. A claim not recorded within the prescribed period is deemed abandoned.
For lode metals/metalliferous ores: up to 9 hectares for an individual. For placer metals/metalliferous ores: up to 8 hectares for an individual (and different maxima apply for corporations/associations).
No holder may exceed (1) three lode mineral claims on the same vein, and (2) three placer mining claims on the same placer ground if the holder is an individual; for corporations/associations/sociedad anonima/limited partnerships the same limit of three placer mining claims on the same placer ground applies.
A lode claim requires a plat not more than 300 meters long by 300 meters broad (rectangular form as nearly as possible), with posts numbered one and two placed along the lode/vein direction; the distance between posts 1 and 2 must not exceed 300 meters.
They must be marked with two posts (initial post and location line post) and a discovery post. The locator must blaze trees along the boundary line and establish each corner with specified standards for posts/stones/rock, including identifying inscriptions and corner directions.
SEC. 57 allows filing an amended declaration to correct defects/erroneous facts or to change boundaries to include ground not originally embraced, provided it does not interfere with existing rights at filing and no lease has yet been granted by the Government prior to filing.