KORONADAL CITY — Fifty families living inside a gold-and-copper mining site were urged by authorities to relocate after their houses were found to be sitting on a "zone of weakness."

Efren Carido, regional director of the Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau, said Tuesday that Barangay Tablu, Tampakan town, South Cotabato is a "zone of weakness." This means that the ground has cracks and landslide may occur at any time.

Tablu lies in the heart of the mining concession of Sagittarius Mines Inc., which is developing a full-scale, open-pit copper and gold mining exploration in the area, said to be the world’s largest mineral deposits located in the towns of Tampakan, Columbio in Sultan Kudarat, and Kiblawan in Davao del Sur.

The family of Paul Dominguez, former presidential assistant for Mindanao, holds major stake in the mining firm as well as in the controversial Lafayette Mining Co. in Bicol.

"Although based on our latest monitoring in July the ground has stabilized, this does not mean the land would not move again and trigger a landslide when heavy rains pour in," Carido said.

Meanwhile, Efren Villarina, information officer of Tampakan town in South Cotabato, said Mayor Claudius Barroso has urged the villagers in Barangay Tablu to relocate to sites identified by the municipal government.

"The mayor has directed village officials in Tablu to persuade the 50 families residing in the danger zone to go to relocation sites we identified," Villarina told reporters.

He identified the affected families as those in Upper Maticura and near the pineapple plantation, whose ground shows presence of cracks measuring one meter in width and at least 100 meters in length.

The Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau, Carido said, issued an advisory two weeks ago for village folk in Tablu to be prepared when heavy rains occur as the downpour may cause a mass movement of earth which would cause landslides.

"The ground in Tablu showed cracks and these should be watched closely. It’s better for the residents to move on to safer grounds or the relocation sites provided by the local government," Carido said.

Carido’s findings controvert pronouncement of Jaime Flores, Bureau of Mines and Geo-Sciences chief geologist, who earlier said that the houses of the residents in Tablu are not located at a landslide-prone area.

But earlier Flores said that his office found Tablu as sitting on a danger zone as the area was marked with big cracks that may cause a landslide disaster when it rains heavily.