By
Jonathan L. Mayuga - April 27, 2017
Environment Secretary
Regina Paz L. Lopez announced on Thursday a new policy banning the open-pit
mining method for gold, copper, silver and complex ores, taking advantage of
the “limited time” she has in office, as she sees another rejection at the
Commission on Appointments (CA).
Sought for reaction,
Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) Vice President for Legal and Policy
Ronald S. Recidoro said the plan to ban the open-pit mining method is
“absurd” and, again, “biased” against large-scale mines.
“Hindi pinag-aralan
’yan
[It did not undergo any study],” he said, noting the order was done in haste.
An environmental
advocate, Lopez made the announcement during a news conference at the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Social Hall on
Thursday, where she hinted that she may end up being rejected by the CA next
week.
“Politics is unpredictable. I want to put
in place these policies while I am still here,” she said.
Lopez added that she
will sign and hand down an administrative order effectively banning the
open-pit mining method and putting in place policies that will ensure social
justice.
The Philippines is
known to have rich mineral deposits, particularly gold and copper. It is
also known to produce silver, albeit in small quantity. Complex ores are
those containing more than one economic mineral, such as ore with both gold,
copper and silver.
To be affected
Three multibillion-dollar
mining projects stand to be affected by the order—the Tampakan Gold Project,
King-King Copper-Gold Project and Silangan Gold Project—all in Mindanao. While
the plan to ban open-pit mining is not retroactive, the three companies have
yet to start operation.
Asked whether the
three projects would be affected by the ban, Environment Undersecretary for
Legal Maria Paz Luna said, “That was the intention.”
She said with the ban
on open-pit mining, the Declaration of Project Mining Feasibility for the
three projects are essentially set aside.
However, Luna said the
proponents of the projects can file an appeal, or even raise legal
question, in case of their inclusion in the open-pit mining ban. “They can
always come to us to appeal or question the order,” she said.
Recidoro said the plan
to ban the open-pit mining method is essentially banning all mining activities,
except for those that do tunnel or underground mining.
Open-pit mining
Open pit, also called
open cast or open-cut mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting
mineral ores by their removal from an open pit or borrow.
Experts say open-pit
mines are developed to extract mineral deposits near the surface, or if the
surface material covering the valuable deposit is relatively thin, or the
material of interest is structurally unsuitable for tunneling, such as for
sand, cinder and gravel.
Mining companies
consider open-pit mine as the fastest, safest way of extracting mineral-ore
deposits, although environmentalists reject the method because of its
destructive nature. Open-pit mines are expanded as mineral deposits are
found around the mine, in the process, creating a bowl-like hole in an area
where mountain and lush forest vegetation used to exist.
According to Luna,
banning open-pit mining is within the powers of the DENR secretary. She
said the DENR chief can issue rules and regulations to protect the environment
against destructive development projects, such as the open-pit mining method.
Since the order
specifically identifies gold, copper, silver and complex ores, coal mines,
large-scale quarry and nickel mines will not be affected.
Open-pit mining methods
are usually used in mining gold, copper and silver.
Lopez gave three
reasons for her decision to ban open-pit mines: 1) They are lifetime
financial liability to the government. 2) They pose lifetime risk
to communities; and 3) They destroy the economic potential of the area.
“I don’t like open-pit
mines because once mining is over, who gets to shoulder the cost of
rehabilitation? These open-pit mines will only become financial liability
of the government,” she said.
The Marcopper
experience
Citing the abandoned
Marcopper mines, which has three dams filled with tons of bluish-green water,
open-pit mines will become man-made lakes or dams that endanger the lives of
communities. The method also destroys the economic potential of an area and
rehabilitation is impossible.
Left behind open-pit
mines, according to experts, are usually developed as part of an ecopark, with
the pit forming man-made lakes. But the lakes are acidic and, during
heavy rains, occasional discharge or spill into waterways is common.
This is currently being
experienced in the abandoned Marcopper mines, which was ordered closed by the
government following the 1996 accidental leak, when one of its three tailings
dam gave in, dumping 3 million to 4 million tons of tailings into the
Makulapnit Creek all the way to the Boac River.
The Marcopper mining
disaster is considered as the worst mining disaster in the country’s history.
The accidental leak literally killed the 27-kilometer Boac River.
Although there are now
signs of life in some portions of the Boac River, with fish species now
reappearing, DENR officials in Marinduque cautioned that the water flowing in
the Boac River is still not safe for drinking, bathing, or even fish
production.
‘It’s absurd’
“We think that the
proposed ban is absurd. It is absurd. Mining is a legitimate
activity. It’s in the Constitution. There is even a law regulating
mining. Mining can only be done two ways, either open-pit
underground. It is not something that the DENR can mandate. It is
the ore body that determines what kind of mining method can be used to extract
it,” Recidoro said.
He said in the case of
nickel or copper deposits that are found 2 meters beneath the surface, it will
be absurd to dig a tunnel to extract ores. “Don’t they realize that banning
open-pit mining means banning quarrying and even coal?” he said.
Conflict of interest?
According to Recidoro,
coal is extracted through open-pit mining. Quarrying, particularly
large-scale quarrying, is also done through open-pit mining.
“If indeed quarrying
and coal are not included, is she favoring First Balfour?” Recidoro said,
referring to a company owned by Lopez’s family, which operates an open-pit mine
in Lobo, Batangas.
First Balfour is
allegedly mining aggregates in a watershed.
“Why is there a
distinction? If she really wants to prevent the environmental effect of
open-pit mining, then all open-pit mines should be banned altogether. If
it is selective, it only means she’s favoring some companies that operate
open-pit mines, like coal and quarry,” Recidoro said.
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