In his third State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Rodrigo R. Duterte reiterated that environmental protection remains the government’s priority. He even warned the mining industry to stop destroying the environment.
“Stop destroying watersheds, the forest and water resources. You can no longer filth our rivers,” Duterte pointed out in his third SONA. “Expect reforms, radical ones. I do not intend to quarrel with anybody but for as long as I have said you will just have to contend with me. I expect you to do your part for national development starting now.”
Why so much ado about mining? Just to give you an idea, an average cellphone contains about 24 milligrams of gold, 250 milligrams of silver, 3,800 milligrams of cobalt, and 9 milligrams of palladium.
That’s just one product that comes from mining or mineral extraction. There are more: computers, television sets, radios, spectacles, cameras, cars, planes and ships. Most of the things you find in your kitchens are included: spoons, forks, plates, cups, knives, kettles, microwave ovens, burners, refrigerators and a lot more.
“If we didn’t have mining, I’d miss all the golden crucifixes and golden domes of churches that we ogle at, and the TV and radio broadcasts and commentaries that can be informative too,” wrote Jose Bayani Baylon in his column in Pahayagang Malaya.
“Mining has been a driver of economic development,” said Manuel V. Pangilinan in a speech delivered during a mining forum held in 2012. “Mining in Australia contributes US$142 billion each year; in Canada, $37.5 billion; in the US, $1.9 trillion, and in Brazil, $24 billion.”
According to Pangilinan, “The challenge is precisely to grow mining so that it creates more value-added for all of us. Only a larger and healthier industry can enable us to achieve forward linkages in downstream processing plants.”
“The Philippines is among the world’s richly endowed countries in terms of mineral resources,” said Dr. Antonio M. Daño in a briefing made in Kidapawan City some years back.
It has been stated that the country’s mineral wealth is estimated to be about $840 billion. “The real question before us today is: Should mining be allowed in the Philippines?” asked Christian Monsod during the “Conference on Mining’s Impact on Philippine Economy and Ecology.”
Mining: Legal Notes and Materials, published by the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center, Inc. and Kasama sa Kalikasan, defines mining as “the process of extracting minerals from the earth.”
“In Mining Engineering practice, mining is usually taken to mean the extraction of ores, coal or stone from the earth,” the book explains. “Ores are mineral deposits that can be worked at a profit under existing economic conditions. Stone includes industrial (usually non-metallic) minerals such as calcite (limestone), quartz and other similar products.”
Mining can be undertaken from the surface or underground. “In surface mining, the rock-breakage-materials handling cycle is usually done first to remove (or strip) the overburden (expose the ore body), and then actual physical extraction,” the book says.
Surface mining can be done either through mechanical extraction or the use of aqueous methods, which makes use of hydraulic action or solution attack. “The most common methods of surface (mechanical extraction) mining are open-pit, quarrying, open-cast and auger mining,” the book states.
Underground mining, on the other hand, can be undertaken through various methods including room-and-pillar, stoping and caving. “Caving methods are particularly distinct in that ‘caving,’ or the collapse of the ore body or the overlying rock is actually induced and controlled during operations,” the book says.
Wikipedia defines stoping as “the process of extracting the desired ore or other mineral from an underground mine, leaving behind an open space known as a stope.” Stoping is used when the country rock is sufficiently strong not to collapse into the stope, although in most cases artificial support is also provided.
Among the most common mining method practiced in the Philippines is open-pit because of relatively low cost. “Open-pit mining entails the removal of any overburden in order to expose the mineral deposit,” the book says. “This operation is dependent on the type of overburden. In cases where the overburden consists of highly consolidated rock, blasting is used.”
Open-pit mining may cheaper when compared to other methods, but it is not environmentally-sound. “Open-pit mining clears the vegetation covering the deposits, exposing the soil and permanently changing the landscape and land use,” said Dr. Daño, who was then the assistant director of the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
In his recent SONA speech, Duterte urged: “Do not destroy the environment or compromise our resources. Repair what you have mismanaged. Try to change management radically because this time, you will have restrictive policies—a prohibition of open-pit mining is one.”
In the Philippines, mining operations are oftentimes located in ancestral land, forest land, agricultural land and even fishing areas. “All areas of the Philippines are technically ‘available’ for mining,” said Dave de Vera, executive director of the Philippines Association for Intercultural Development (PAFID).
Speaking before a group of journalists attending the learning sessions on land use planning some years back, which this author attended, De Vera cited the case of Sibuyan Island, touted to be the Galapagos of Asia and home to Mount Guiting-guiting.
In February 1996, then President Fidel V. Ramos declared Mount Guiting-guiting as a national park. For their part, the indigenous Mangyan Taga-Bukid – the traditional caretakers of the mountain – secured Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title over their territories.
Despite these efforts, some 21 mining companies reportedly applied to mine the area. “The applications cover 42% of the island and overlap with 32% of the management area of the national park,” De Vera deplored.
The Catholic Church, some cause-oriented groups and environmentalists are against mining. All of them have valid reasons. Fr. Emeterio Barcelon, SJ, in his column, wrote a very thought-provoking piece. “A valid objection is that mining operations sometimes leave the local population with little residual benefit after the mining operation,” he wrote.
“This is not true in most cases as, for example, the Baguio mining. If not for the mines, tourism could not have developed Baguio as it is now. But many of the local people are still poor. This not because of mining but because of the sharing system. Why let the mining companies take away all the gravy and leave the community in poverty?”
Primo Morillo of social development network Philippine Miserior Partnership was quoted as saying by the Rappler that whatever benefits mining provides is only temporary. “They say the resources are finite so when they are gone, they will leave. Whatever development will happen is temporary but the effect of mining is permanent.”
Now, let’s talk about mining wastes. According to Dr. Daño, “mining waste materials drains into major water systems causing pollution.” Take the case of the Tapian Open Pit copper mine in central Marinduque.
Raul Alibutud, in an article published by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, reported: “What used to be rich fishing ground is now nearly barren of marine life. Corals and seagrasses, the homes of nesting places of fish, have been choked by sediment. Near the mine’s waste discharge pipes, the once-clear water has become murky and turbid.”
In 2007, the MGB reported there were 24 non-performing mining tenements -abandoned and need immediate rehabilitation. “These areas were left out after several years of mining operations leaving behind toxic waste materials and overburdened areas that are stony, rocky and acidic,” Dr. Daño said. “These areas have open pits and mine tailings.”
Dr. Daño said mining areas are characterized by acidic and saline due to oxidation of pyretic materials. He considered them as “the most difficult site to rehabilitate” because the soil acidity (pH) falls below 4.0.
Generally, mining areas are “untouched for rehabilitation unless bulks of soil are brought back to the site.” In gold mine areas, heavy metals on-site are way above normal levels (i.e. copper, arsenic, chromium, lead, zinc and strontium) carried away by running water to low lying areas.
After mining finishes, the mine area must undergo rehabilitation. Wikipedia cites the following options to be done:
- Waste dumps are contoured to flatten them out, to further stabilize them against erosion.
- If the ore contains sulfides it is usually covered with a layer of clay to prevent access of rain and oxygen from the air, which can oxidize the sulfides to produce sulfuric acid.
- Landfills are covered with topsoil, and vegetation is planted to help consolidate the material.
- Dumps are usually fenced off to prevent livestock denuding them of vegetation.
- The open pit is then surrounded with a fence, to prevent access, and it generally eventually fills up with groundwater.
- Tailings dams are left to evaporate, then covered with waste rock, clay if need be, and soil, which is planted to stabilize it.
For underground mines, rehabilitation is not always a significant problem or cost. This is because of the higher grade of the ore and lower volumes of waste rock and tailings. In some situations, stopes are backfilled with concrete slurry using waste, so that minimal waste is left at surface.
