1 Provided further, That no person shall be awarded in excess of the total contract area of 2 seven hundred-fifty (750) hectares in any given watershed area. For the purposes of 3 this Act, the prohibition on the maximum area shall also include corporations that shall 4 have common directors or significant shareholders. 5 Sec. 59. Term o f mineral agreement - The term of the mineral agreement shall 6 be equivalent to the mine life plus an additional five (5) years for the rehabilitation of 7 the mining area. Provided, That in no case shall a Mineral Agreement have a term 8 beyond fifteen (15) years. Provided further. That the contractor shall already include 9 rehabilitation/remediation of the mining area within the ten-year term. 10 In no case shall a Mineral Agreement be extended without just cause to be determined 11 by the Council, Provided, That the extension shall not cause the term of the agreement 12 to exceed the fifteen (15) year term mentioned in the preceding section. 13 further. That for the purposes of this Act, just cause shall mean acts or events resulting 14 from war, force majeure or those beyond the control of the mining proponent not 15 attributable to the same. 16 Provided finally. That in no case shall mineral agreements be renewed after the 17 expiration of the fifteen-year period. Provided 18 Sec. 60. Prohibition on open-pit mining m ethod and submarine tailings disposal. 19 - Open-pit mining method for the extraction of mineral ores and the submarine tailings 20 disposal method shall be prohibited. 21 Sec. 61. Failure to initiate mining operations. - Failure to commence the 22 development stage of the mining operations in accordance with the work program 23 within two (2) years from the award of the mineral agreement shall cause the 24 cancellation of the mineral agreement. The contractor thereafter forfeits the value of 25 the improvements made upon the land. The contractor and other corporations who are 26 also run by the same directors and officers are thereafter banned from bidding to 27 conduct mining 28 development stage of the mining operations in accordance with the work program. 29 Sec. 62. operations for ten Mandatory (10) consultations years after failure to in each mining phase. commence the - Mandatory 30 consultations with affected persons and communities shall be undertaken in each phase 31 of mining operation: exploration, extraction, processing, and mine closure to ensure 32 that the peoples shall be informed of the proposed plans and methods that are 33 proposed to be conducted. 34 Sec. 63. FPIC on each stage o f mining operation. - The free and prior informed 35 consent of the ICCs/IPs, the barangay assemblies, and private landowners, possessors, 36 occupants shall be required at each and every stage of the mining operations. 26