Mining in the 🇵🇭

Mining in our country is not a simple endeavour. Even so, the Philippines is home to many producers and exploration companies. It is said that we are one of the richest country years back then.

Though it is reported that the Philippines holds the second world’s second-largest gold deposits, it was remained untouched. The welfare of the people is the most priority because most gold and other precious minerals are located in a place where indigenous people lived. It resulted in the limiting of mining activities.

The result of limiting mining activities are resulting in the Philippines to become one of the slow players in the gold world. However, we played an important role in gold production ranking 24th in 2018. Not bad.How much more if we don't limit the mining activities. But other factors why mining hasn’t yet taken a firm hold in the country are the following.

Poisoning:
Mining can toxify the waters when the mining companies try to extract minerals using toxic chemicals like cyanide, sulfuric acid, ammonium nitrate, fuel oil (ANFO) for blasting tunnels; uranium, lead and gasoline, diesel fuel, and exhaust fumes from vehicles and equipment and
acetylene for welding and thawing.

mining technology (image)

Extraction of the metal comes with concerns surrounding health, safety, environmental hazards and rights of indigenous people will be the most affected one and will suffer the consequences. If these waste and chemicals will reach the fresh waters, like rivers there will be no more living creature that survives in it. And people who get in contact or drink with the water mixed with a chemical by accident will have the possibility of being poisoned.

Land dispute:
Most of the location of rich mineral deposits are found to be in an area were owned by indigenous people. I can prove this myself because I am an Indigenous People (IP). People like us do not approve of mining in our territory. We have special rights where we can decline any unusual operations that are being proposed if it is against our will. Even it promised improvement but shows a hint of destruction, it always failed to gain our approval. We value our natural reserves, our farms, our rivers that has been satisfying and giving us pleasure and raw foods to us and our children. Our land that was been defended by our forefathers till the last drop of their blood. Our land is more valuable to us than heaps of gold. There are numbers of company agents that come and tried to lure us into something tempting. They even made a "mini dam" proposal a front just to make an excuse to try to excavate our mountain. A free electricity supply and other material benefits and money they promised but they never succeed.

Destruction of Natural Habitat

Mining in the Philippines is mostly underground mining which lets the rocks and wastes earth from underground and is brought to the surface in which become toxic when in contact with air and water. The mine will be left as it is that may cause a great threat because once the mine collapse, the land above it will sink.

Citizens are even unaware that below the ground they are standing is a tunnel that may collapse anytime. It also causes soil erosion and deforestation because timbers from surrounding trees are used to support the tunnels from collapsing.

Lowering of water tables is caused by these underground mining also. It also alters the flow of groundwater and streams.

Political Grip
The first two factors I mentioned above were both factors that mining laws are giving tight interest. Additional to this is the welfare of the breadwinners who rely on their source of income from mining companies. There are even mining sites that we're being shut down after the Philippine President remarked on closing down all mining sites because they caused damage to our environment, land and waters alike. Fortunately, it was reconsidered after finding the effect of unemployment of many labourers in the whole country.

Now mining was allowed as long as it won't cause harm to the environment. Numerous permits to operate are denied. Several raids in private mining sites followed because there are still others who continuously operates despite the warnings and denial of a license for operation because they don't meet the requirement to operate.

It's a relief to our part because it minimizes the threat of the destruction of our nature. What's with the title of being the 1st in gold producer on the entire planet if our mother nature is crying. Let it be known that Nature is a silent killer. It responds to cruelty and abuse one can't ever expect.