Quitugua insists on govt mining opportunities

Commonwealth Development Authority board chair Tom Glenn A. Quitugua maintains that direct involvement of the government in pozzolan mining will be in the best interest of the CNMI.

“What I’m saying is if this government really thinks of its people, it will do the best thing. In this case, it is to go directly to the cement manufacturers,” said Quitugua.

Quitugua is advocating that the government not go through a middleman or a third party in mining pozzolan on Mt. Pagan.

He said that, instead of allowing a middleman to do the mining and marketing of the mineral deposit, the government should sell it directly to the company that makes cement.

It would then be the manufacturing company that would take out the pozzolan from Mt. Pagan.

Quitugua said that giving this job to a middleman will result in giving away a big revenue for the government.

“It’s given that if a mining company comes in, it wants profit. Why would you give away your potential profit when you can deal directly with the buyer, the cement manufacturer?” asked Quitugua.

The Fitial administration is not convinced with Quitugua’s reasoning.

Press secretary Charles Reyes Jr. said that the “government is not in the business of mining.”

He said the administration is open to the possibility of pozzolan mining but it would open a bid for this project and award a contract to a mining company that is deemed socially responsible.

Meantime, J.G. Sablan, which claims to have a 20-year permit to mine pozzolan on Pagan, said that the government faces too many problems already to get directly involved in the mining business.

J.G. Sablan president John Sablan said the government should leave the project to the private sector.

J.G. Sablan is now partnering with U.S.-based BridgeCreek International to pursue the project.

There are some 200 million metric tons deposit of pozzolanic ash on Pagan, which is considered a high-value volcanic ash used worldwide as a cement additive. It is estimated to cost between $45 to $70 per ton.

Sablan said he has invested several millions in the business since 1991 but could not just go full swing for lack of enough funds to sustain international operations.

He said that, with BridgeCreek as partner, export of pozzolan would be easier.

Sablan said that initial estimates showed that the CNMI government would get $13 million annually in royalty and related taxes from the proposed pozzolan project.

Pozzolan mining in the CNMI is estimated to last up to 40 years. (Liberty Dones)