Azmar not concerned about J.G. Sablan’s permit

The status of J.G. Sablan’s mining permit to Pagan does not concern Azmar International Inc., according to a local representative of the Arizona-based company seeking to extract pozzolan from the northern island.

Azmar spokesperson Don Farrell said the company actually needs about five hectares of Pagan land to begin its mining operations and fulfill the first shipment of 50,000 tons of pozzolan that the company is being required to make within the first 180 days of its operations.

“We wish the best to J.G. Sablan. His permit is really of no concern to Azmar,” Farrell said in an interview. “We simply want our opportunity to prove what we’ve said we can do. The only way we can prove that is to receive a clear permit that we can present to our buyer so that he can sign the contract and sign the irrevocable letter of credit that will give us the cash necessary to be able to implement our plans.”

On Aug. 1, 1993, the Marianas Public Lands Authority granted a permit to Saipan-based J.G. Sablan to mine basalt and pozzolan from Pagan. Two years later, J.G. Sablan was given a new 20-year permit despite its failure to generate and report any revenue to the government from its activities on the island.

A November 2000 report from the CNMI Office of the Public Auditor found J.G. Sablan to be $1.3 million in arrears for Pagan and other quarry fees and royalties.

To date, the status of J.G. Sablan’s permit continues to await decision by the MPLA board of directors.

During a board meeting last month, MPLA said Azmar’s permit—should one be granted—would be limited to a small area on Pagan if the MPLA board finds that J.G. Sablan still has the mining rights.

But Farrell maintained that it would not be necessary for Azmar to utilize in the beginning the entire plot that has been outlined to be given to Azmar and which is separate from the property allocated for J.G. Sablan.

“There are over 200 million tons of [pozzolan] on Pagan. So we will begin with a small section, maybe five hectares of land where we can first of all, build very temporary facilities,” Farrell said.

After that, he added, Azmar would seek the approval and cooperation of MPLA and all CNMI regulatory agencies in expanding the mining operations

“We don’t need to work on the whole thing at once. We’ll only work on a small, manageable portion, so we can get to work as quickly as possible—within the parameters of the regulatory agencies that we will work with,” Farrell said.

Azmar also plans to build its permanent housing area on a border of its property that will make it easily accessible to the private population that would live on Pagan once the mining operations commence.

“We can give them 24 hour supplies of power and water, and roads to their village. Eventually, we can also help build homes for the displaced people, whenever MPLA completes the process of giving homesteads to them,” Farrell said.