Title
Clarificatory Guidelines on Philippine Mining Law Implementation
Law
Denr Memorandum Order No. 34-99
Decision Date
Dec 27, 1999
DENR Memorandum Order No. 34-99 establishes clarificatory guidelines for the implementation of the Philippine Mining Act, detailing requirements for mining applications, area status checks, permit renewals, and necessary approvals from local government units to ensure consistent regulatory compliance.
mining act
administrative order
exploration permit

Area status and application clearance

  • Before securing Area Status and Clearance from the pertinent DENR Sectors, the Bureau/concerned Regional Offices must first check in its control maps whether the area is free/open for mining applications.
  • Only cleared mining applications may be forwarded to the pertinent DENR Sectors for Area Status and Clearance.
  • The forwarding of cleared applications to DENR Sectors is done in accordance with DENR Memorandum Order No. 98-03.
  • The procedure in Section 1 is mandatory as a precondition to Area Status and Clearance processing.

Definition: “Duly Authorized Representative”

  • Under Exploration Permit terms and conditions, a “duly authorized representative” of a Permittee refers to entities/service contractors to whom the Permittee entered into an operating agreement or other similar form of agreement.
  • The operating agreement or similar form of agreement must be duly approved by the Secretary.
  • The definition in Section 2 governs how authorized representation is treated for purposes of an Exploration Permit’s terms and conditions.

Exploration permit renewal and open access

  • Failure of a Permittee to apply for renewal of an Exploration Permit within the prescribed period automatically opens the area to mining applications upon the expiration of the permit.
  • This rule is triggered by the Permittee’s failure to file a renewal application within the prescribed period.
  • The opening of the area is effected upon expiration of the Exploration Permit.

MA/FTAA application filing: work program requirements

  • For applications for a Mineral Agreement (MA) or Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) by a Permittee, the Exploration and Environmental Work Programs are not applicable as mandatory requirements.
  • The Exploration and Environmental Work Programs therefore must not be required in the filing of the MA/FTAA application by the Permittee.
  • The exemption applies specifically to Permittee applications for MA/FTAA and is anchored on the rule on mandatory requirements in Section 30 of DENR Administrative Order No. 96-40.

Mineral Agreement requirements for development phase

  • Mineral Agreement applications that go directly into the development/operating phase must submit a Three (3)-Year Development/Utilization Work Program.
  • Such applications must submit the Three (3)-Year Development/Utilization Work Program instead of a Two (2)-Year Exploration Work Program.
  • The Development/Utilization Work Program must be accompanied by an appropriate Mining Project Feasibility Study (MGB Form No. 5-3).
  • The Mining Project Feasibility Study must be duly prepared, signed and sealed by a licensed:
    • Mining Engineer, or
    • Geologist, or
    • Metallurgical Engineer.
  • The filing must also include a pertinent Declaration of Mining Project Feasibility that is duly signed by the applicant.

Registration process for Mineral Agreement

  • In the registration of a Mineral Agreement, the agreement must first be forwarded to the Bureau for numbering upon approval of the Secretary.
  • After numbering and the Secretary’s approval, the Mineral Agreement is forwarded to the concerned Regional Office for registration for areas outside Mineral Reservations.
  • For areas inside Mineral Reservations, the Director/concerned Regional Director must notify the Contractor to cause registration of the Mineral Agreement with the Bureau.
  • For areas outside Mineral Reservations, the notification must require the Contractor to cause registration with the concerned Regional Office.
  • The Director/Regional Director must issue the notification within fifteen (15) working days from receipt of the written notice.
  • The registration routing differs depending on whether the area is inside or outside Mineral Reservations.

FTAA multiphase availment and notice

  • Under an FTAA, any two (2) or more of the periods (Exploration, Pre-Feasibility Study, Feasibility Study) provided in Section 52 of DENR Administrative Order No. 96-40 may be simultaneously undertaken within one approved contract area.
  • The simultaneous undertaking is subject to the pertinent provisions of Section 60 of DENR Administrative Order No. 96-40.
  • The Contractor must file a Notice with the concerned Regional Office, copied to the Bureau, to avail of:
    • renewal of the Exploration Period, or
    • advance to/avail of Pre-Feasibility Study, Feasibility Study, or Development and Construction/Operating Period (as applicable), either in the whole or a portion of the Contract Area.
  • The advance/availment notice is subject to the approval of the Director.
  • Failure of the Contractor to file the Notice to avail of:
    • renewal of the Exploration Period, or
    • to advance to/avail of the Pre-Feasibility Study or Feasibility Study
      means those periods shall not be availed of by the Contractor.

Three Letters-Notice compliance policy

  • The Mines and Geosciences Bureau must adopt the Three (3) Letters-Notice policy to promote compliance of mining applicants with all requirements to support mining applications.
  • Each Letter-Notice must give the mining applicant fifteen (15) to thirty (30) days upon receipt to comply with the pertinent requirements.
  • An interval of no more than thirty (30) days between deadlines must be observed when sending the Letters-Notice.
  • Failure of the mining applicant to fully comply with the requirement embodied in the Letters-Notice is a ground for denial of the mining application.

Authorized capitalization and financial capability

  • The minimum authorized capital of Ten Million Pesos (P10,000,000.00) and the paid-up capital of Two Million Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (P2,500,000.00) required for a corporation/association/cooperative/partnership under DENR Memorandum Order No. 99-10 apply to the principal applicant.
  • The capitalization requirement applies whether or not the principal applicant is supported by an operator or service contractor through an operating agreement or similar form of agreement.
  • For mining applications with two (2) or more applicants as co-applicants, the minimum authorized capital of P10 Million and paid-up capital of P2.5 Million may be required from just one (1) of the co-applicants.
  • For mining applications by an individual, the minimum amount of Two Million Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (P2,500,000.00) is required as proof of financial capability.
  • Proof of financial capability for an individual must be in the form of a bank deposit or credit line.
  • The capitalization and financial capability requirements are mandatory in the acceptance of a mining application, consistent with DENR Memorandum Order No. 99-10.

Prior Sanggunian approval and consultations

  • Prior approval or indorsement by any two (2) of the concerned Sanggunian bodies (Panlalawigan, Bayan, and Barangay) is required to support mining applications intended for development and/or utilization purposes.
  • Mining applications intended for exploration require proof of consultation with and/or project presentation to any two (2) of the concerned Sanggunian bodies.
  • Proof of prior approval, indorsement, consultation, and/or project presentation must be in the form of a formal Resolution or Certification issued by the concerned Sanggunian.
  • The required Sanggunian proof depends on whether the application is for development/utilization or exploration.

Agreements: approval and registration rules

  • Memorandum of Agreement(s), Option Agreement(s), Operating Agreement(s), and other similar forms of agreement under a mining application must be registered with the Bureau or the concerned Regional Office.
  • Registered agreements under a mining application form part of the mining application supporting documents and are subject to evaluation by the Bureau/Regional Office.
  • Agreements under a mining application are deemed approved upon approval of the mining application.
  • Memorandum of Agreement(s), Option Agreement(s), Operating Agreement(s), or other similar forms of agreement entered into under a mining permit/contract must be registered with the Bureau or concerned Regional Office.
  • Such agreements under a mining permit/contract are subject to approval of the Secretary upon evaluation and recommendation by the Director.
  • Any such agreement that is not duly registered and/or approved by the DENR Secretary is deemed void insofar as the Department is concerned.

Effectivity: publication and NAR registration

  • The Order takes effect fifteen (15) days after its complete publication in a newspaper of general circulation.
  • The Order also takes effect fifteen (15) days after its registration with the Office of the National Administrative Register.
  • The effectivity of the Order therefore follows the combined compliance with both the publication and National Administrative Register registration timelines stated in Section 12.

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