I am against
mining.
I was still in college when I first heard about a mining company to
operate in Southern Mindanao, the Western Mining Corporation (WMC). It would
develop the Tampakan Copper-Gold Mine Project. The project would traverse in
one of the towns in Davao del Sur, my home province.
I only learn about mining through my readings. Weighing
the literature I've read I could
conclude that mining is more destructive than beneficial, in whatever manner.
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Image of an open-pit mine.
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I was given the
chance to see a real mining site and to know how a mining operates when
Sagittarius Mining, Incorporated (SMI) brought us to Carmen Copper Corporation
in Toledo City, Cebu. Maybe, SMI hoped to convince me and the group that mining
is okay and acceptable. What I saw did not please me. In fact, a Pandora's Box
was opened before my every eyes.
The Tampakan
Copper-Gold Mine Project
The Tampakan Copper-Gold mine project is presently managed by SMI.
It is considered to be the largest open-pit mine in the Philippines and
Southeast Asia, and one of the largest in the world. But before SMI developed
the project it was Western Mining Corporation which first held the same. The
Philippine Government granted the Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement
(FTAA) to WMC in 1995. The FTAA allows full foreign ownership and capital
investment of mining projects, as provided in RA 7942 or The Philippine Mining
Act of 1995. In 2001 FTAA was transferred to SMI. With the enactment
of RA 7942, the Philippine government liberalized mining policies and opened
both public and private lands, including protected areas, to foreign
investments.
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| The mine site
covers an area of approximately 10,000 hectares, wherein the open-pit, tailings
pond, fresh water dam and other support infrastructure will be situated. It
straddles the towns of Tampakan in South Cotabato, Kiblawan in Davao del Sur
and Columbio in Sultan Kudarat. The open-pit will lie in Tampakan, South
Cotabato, where the area contains about 15 million metric tons of high grade
copper and 17.6 million ounces of gold deposits. It would reach an extent of
500 hectares and a depth of 800 meters. The tailings pond will sit in Kiblawan,
Davao del Sur. The tailings pond is where mine wastes or toxic sludge are
stored and treated. |
SMI had already finished the exploration phase. It is now in the process
of preparing for a full-blown operation targeting to start in 2017 or 2018. If
the 17-year project operation will commence, the mine will yield an average of
375,000 tons per annum of copper and 360,000 ounces per annum of gold in
concentrate. The whole operation projects a contribution at about $37 Billion
to the Philippine economy, an average contribution of one per cent annually to
the GDP.
IPs and Ancestral Domain
About sixty (60) per cent of mining operations in
the Philippines take place in ancestral domains. Ancestral domain consists not
only the land where Indigenous Peoples live. It also includes cultural and
religious practices among indigenous communities.
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| Open-pit mine at Carmen Copper Corporation in Toledo City, Cebu. |
The Philippine Mining Act of 1995 allowed the
exploitation of our natural resources, including those found within ancestral
domains and lands. The law provides that no ancestral land shall be opened for
mining operations without the prior consent of the indigenous cultural
community concerned. But the question is how genuine and truthful is the
consent of the IPs obtained? On the other hand, the Indigenous Peoples Rights
Act (IPRA) of 1997 provides that the State shall respect, recognize and protect
the right of the IPs to preserve and protect their culture, traditions and
institutions. What weighs more between the two laws is a pressing issue that
calls for concern. Unfortunately, the IPs belong to one of the most
marginalized and vulnerable sectors of society.
The Tampakan Copper-Gold Mine Project will affect
IPs and ancestral domain since the mine site is inhabited by about two million
people with diverse ethnical backgrounds. The project will directly affect
almost 6,000 members of the B'laan tribe whose source of livelihood is
agriculture. For them, more than just a source of livelihood land is life.
Agriculture contributes the main livelihood of the
people, yet, untapped natural resources, such as copper, gold, nickel, chromite
and marble are found in the area. Once the operation starts, it will
result to flagrant poverty and backward agriculture. Any resettlement activity
could deprive them of their means of livelihood.
Apparently, mining does not guarantee local
employment and upliftment of lives of the residents, especially of the IPs.
Most locals are hired only during the construction stage. When the operation
starts, SMI would certainly hire those who are highly-qualified for the mining
business.
The presence of mining or any activity could also
cause the IPs' disintegration and displacement. This will only mean loss of
their cultural identity and disruption of traditional system, which weaken
their sense of unity that may lead them to become more vulnerable.
SMI's palatable offer to the community, such as
scholarship and livelihood programs, had led most residents especially the IPs
to give their consent and support to the mining activities. They agreed as long
as their ancestral domain will not be destroyed. There is the question on the
truthfulness in the acquisition of the IPs consent since SMI failed to disclose
the negative impacts of mining to them. Thus, the rule on Free, Informed and
Prior Consent (FPIC) is violated.
Moreover, in a discussion with SMI people they said
that they will buy the lands owned in private and rent those lands covered as
ancestral domains and return the same to the IPs when the mining activities are
done. When asked how would they return the ancestral lands to the IPs when
these are already deeply excavated and unbeneficial, they still have no
concrete answer to this.
Environment
The Philippines is an archipelago with fragile ecosystems. Out of the
10,000 hectare project site 3,750 hectares, more or less, are rainforest
vegetation. Approximately 355 hectares are old growth forests or virgin
forests, which under our laws forests of this kind shall not be disturbed. The
mining area supports a high diversity of species - over 1,000 flora species and
about 280 fauna species. Of this, at least 50 flora and fauna are listed as
threatened species.
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| Tailings pond of Carmen Copper Corporation |
Open-pit mining will be SMI's means to excavate the
massive copper and gold deposits in Tampakan. Open-pit mining is destructive as
it entails excavation of thousands of hectares of agricultural lands and
rainforests in order to extract mineral deposits. It also uses toxic heavy
metals and chemicals to process mineral ores and would leave an acidic soil.
Moreover, the geologic location of the
project is dangerous as it is traversed by the Philippine Fault and the
Cotabato Fault. The site is also about 12 kilometers from Mt. Matutum, which is
a dormant volcano and which tip towers over the Tampakan minefield.
Two rivers will be affected - the Taplan
River where the mine site lies atop it and the Mal River where the site
infrastructure will be located. These two rivers provide waters to lowland
agricultural farms in South Cotabato and Davao del Sur. In case of an accident or failure of any of its facilities,
poisonous substances will flood downstream since the project lies in an
unstable geography. Contamination of water will also pose a risk to
agriculture.
During a Forum on Water Resource Management and
Mine Rehabilitation conducted by SMI it was made clear that the treated mineral
wastes from the tailings pond will be discharged at Mal River. SMI assured that
the treated wastes pose no adverse effects to people's health and environment,
but it seems hard to believe. Chemical wastes are dangerous and harmful, even
if treated. It could have long-term effect like causing diseases to humans and
destruction of the environment system of rivers and seas.
Open-pit mining also consumes voluminous amount of
water. In the same forum SMI revealed that the mining operations will have an
average demand of 908L/s and 93L/s of which is fresh water consumption. The
745L/s remains in its tailings storage facility or tailings pond. When the
mining operations cease, the water management for the open-pit and tailings
pond will be modified accordingly. How will it be modified is still a big
question that SMI cannot give exact answers.
As part of its biodiversity management plan, SMI
will conduct revegetation and rehabilitation of the lost rainforest due to the
mining operations. The excavated rainforests which are habitats of birds and
other wildlife contain native plant species. The plants which will be used for
revegetation and rehabilitation are non-native since there are still no native
plants found to thrive in acidic soils.
Like in Carmen Copper Corporation, only Acacia Auri
were grown in the mining area because this kind of plant thrives in acidic
soil. Acacia Auri is a plant not native in the Philippines and grows even in
poor soil. Forests with non-native plants will not become good habitat for our
birds and wildlife. The change in vegetation will affect the entire food chain
of animals.
Lastly, however mining companies, including
SMI, shout that they would practice responsible mining and whatever amount of
money our government would get out of the mining business, the same could not
compensate to the ill effects of mining. I don't even believe in the thing called "responsible
mining". There is nothing responsible about destroying the environment and
the displacement and marginalization of the IPs.
References:
Marina
Wetzlmaier, Cultural Impacts of Mining in Indigenous people's Ancestral
Domains in the Philippines
Rog
Amon, Tampakan Mining Project: Prelude to a Disaster?
SMI's
Tampakan Copper and Gold Project Presentation
