Never MINE!!!

               

         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.

Image of an open-pit mine.

 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.

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.

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.

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