Pursuant to Section 8 of Republic Act (RA) No. 7942, otherwise known as the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, Section 275 of Department Administrative Order (DAO) No. 96-40 and in line with the policy of the Government to continuously provide for a responsive regulatory framework, Section 12 of DAO No. 99-57 entitled "Amendments to DAO No. 96-40 or the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 7942, Otherwise Known as the 'Philippine Mining Act of 1995'", is hereby revised to read as follows:

SECTION 12. Section 69 (General Provisions) is hereby amended, to read as follows:

Quarry, sand and gravel, guano and gemstone resources in private and/or public lands may be extracted, removed, disposed and/or utilized: Provided, That in large-scale quarry operations involving cement raw materials, marble, granite and sand and gravel and construction aggregates, any Qualified Person may apply for a Mineral Agreement subject to the provisions of Chapter VI of these implementing rules and regulations: Provided, further, That a large-scale quarry operation, including a sand and gravel operation, during the Development/Construction/Operating Period under a Mineral Agreement, shall involve a mechanized operation and a final mining area not exceeding the following:

For sand and gravel	Individual Corporation/Partnership/Association/Cooperative	Twenty (20) hectares Fifty (50) hectares
For marble, granite and construction aggregates	Individual Corporation/Partnership/Association/Cooperative	Fifty (50) hectares One hundred (100) hectares
For cement raw materials such as limestone, shale and limestone	Individual Corporation/ Partnership/ Association/Cooperative	Five hundred (500) hectares One thousand (1,000) hectares

subject to the following conditions:

1. That the mining applicant/Contractor may file/declare more than one (1) final mining area in its applied area/contract area: Provided, That for sand and gravel, each additional final mining area shall further require the approval by any two (2) of the concerned Sanggunian in the form of a formal Resolution;

2. That each final mining area shall be covered by a Declaration of Mining Project Feasibility supported by a Mining Project Feasibility Study, Development/Utilization Work Program and application for survey; and

3. That the aggregate of the final mining areas for all Mineral Agreements held by the Contractor and areas covered by Mineral Agreement applications, if any, shall not exceed the maximum limits set under Section 33 of DAO No. 96-40, as amended.

For this purpose, a final mining area means the contract area or portion(s) thereof properly delineated and surveyed by the mining applicant/Contractor for development and actual quarrying/mining operation including sites for support/ancillary facilities.

This Order takes effect immediately.

Adopted: 25 July 2000

(SGD.) ANTONIO H. CERILLES
Secretary