Declaring more Minahang Bayan areas nationwide increases the opportunity for the government to track small-scale mining and putting an end to illegal mines that cause great damage to the environment - but this is easier said than done.
DURING the 1970s, a group of gold-panners (aka small-scale miners) led by their financier proposed to my father, a small-time coconut farm owner, to mine the earth around the plantation for gold ores.
The group offered my father a good deal: for every three kerosene cans of high-grade ores they dug up, father was to get one can. The partihan was called “tersio” in the local lingo.
My father knew that his five-hectare property (now seven hectares) treasured high-grade gold.
A mining engineer from an iron mine company in town told him so. Working in the mines on weekdays as a mechanic, my father did not think twice about rejecting the offer.
The group approached the owner of the coconut farm that was next to my father’s and offered the same deal. After briefly doing some mental computations, he excitedly accepted the offer.
The surface mining went on for quite some time, and everybody was happy. The village’s buyer of raw gold was paying good money for every “bahay” (stress on “hay”) of the yellow metal.
The miners dug up the whole place in foxhole trenches looking for the mother gold nugget they called “vita”.
They overturned every inch of the earth as they collected gold ores along the way, filling up one kerosene can after the other.
And they did not spare the ground around and under the bases of many age-old coconut trees, having discovered more rocks dotted with the elusive yellow nuggets.
But the brook that used to flow crystal clear water nearby had become silted and worse, muddied.
This spot was where the women in the nearby village gathered every day to wash their clothes and bathe.
As it was, the gold miners processed the gold-laden mud right beside the flowing water.
They did this to separate gold dust from the muddy water, which was then dumped back into the brook running in front of them.
Over time, the water became polluted with silt and tainted with mercury, which was used to “collect” gold dust in the bottom of their wood pans.
This daily scenario had later deprived the village of a clear, flowing brook that used to give them clean water for household use.
It was the 1970s, and they did not know what the deadly chemical, or asoge in the local dialect, could do to their health and the environment.
Then a strong typhoon rumbled on across Camarines Norte, wreaking havoc on almost all coconut plantations across the province.
At the farm of the man-turned gold-panning fan, an old, tall coconut tree slammed hard into his house at the height of the typhoon and destroyed half of the house’s structure, starting from the nipa roofing.
The next morning, he surveyed his farm and saw to his sheer dismay and disgust: the wayward typhoon uprooted almost half of his coconut trees in his six-hectare property.
To be exact, all those trees whose root bases had been mined fell.
And the whole place now, as if he was seeing it for the first time with clear eyes, looked like a war zone where fierce fighting took place.
But instead of dead soldiers’ bodies, rain and floodwaters filled the trenches.
Standing atop a big rock next to an uprooted coconut tree, he wept.
But then, a tall heap of gold ores under his farmhouse had assuaged his confused feelings, promising him some wealth should he decide to process them for its precious metal. He knew what to do next.
Ecological issues
Last year, about 50 years after the coconut plantation gold mining tragedy, the International Labor Organization (ILO) issued a study that highlighted the ecological issues that result from small-scale gold mining (SSGM), the very same disaster that the coconut farm owner witnessed.
Titled “Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining Baseline Profile Report”, the 2020 study covered extensively the small-scale gold mining operations in Paracale, Camarines Norte, and in T’Boli, South Cotabato (the coconut farm owner’s land was located in a baranggay in Paracale, which was known for its gold-mining sites).
The 100-page report pointed out: “Because of the sector’s informal status, ASGM has been associated with aggravating social, environmental costs, including primarily precarious working and living conditions, poor health, and safety record.
“The continued use of mercury in the sector has implications on the people’s rights to the highest standards of health and the highest in ecology.”
Gold reserves
The government has projected that the gold reserves in the country to be worth around P7.36 trillion.
In 2014, the country produced P32.97 billion worth of gold, accounting for 25 percent of the total value of metallic output worth P138.6 billion.
The MGB said that the small-scale gold mining sector had a gold output in 2009 that was more than twice that of the big gold mining companies, valued at P36.91 billion.
In 2015, the sector contributed 70 percent, or 28 tons, which was above the global average of only 20 percent.
For so many years now, the ASGM has become a thriving industry, contributing 0.60 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
It employs 500,000 miners nationwide, including 18,000 women and children in communities belonging to the workforce.
Despite the drop in the price of gold in the world market in the recent past to $1,700/oz. (one ounce is equivalent to 28.35 grams), the price of gold in many mining camps continues to look good.
In Camarines Norte’s gold mining sites, particularly in Paracale, Camarines Norte, the prevailing buying price is P1,200 per “bahay”. One “bahay” is equivalent to one-half gram of gold.
Often, mining for a gram of gold in one day would be “no sweat” at all for many gold miners.
This is when they are lucky to “hit the high grade”, in which a small gold ore would contain several grams of the high-grade metal.
Instant cash; long-term problems
One reason many farmers became gold miners instantly, as they could see their money by afternoon after working the entire day.
During those days when they were working the farm, they had to wait for three months to see their vegetable crops bear fruits.
“The livelihood opportunities offered by the sector have drawn a big number of potential miners, especially in rural areas where there are limited opportunities for the poverty-stricken,” the study said.
Sadly, the opportunities offered by the ASGM come with significant environmental damage.
For instance, gaps and overlaps in existing mining policies and the weak enforcement of regulations in the sector have resulted in the unabashed use of mercury in the gold extraction process, the study noted.
Recently, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) analyzed the sector’s contribution to mercury pollution.
Using a special tool kit from the UNEP (United Nations Environmental Protection), the agency found the sector to be emitting/releasing over 113 tons of mercury per annum.
This makes the small-scale mining activities the most significant source of mercury emission in the country, contributing to mercury exposure of minors, the family, and the general population.
The study noted that mercury in ASGM also exacerbates the dangers facing vulnerable populations such as women and children.
As defined in Republic Act 9231, mining is “one of the worst forms” of child labor abuse as it exposes children to harmful chemicals (mercury and cyanide) and harsh working conditions.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Occupational and Health Standards (OHS) classifies mining as a hazardous workplace.
Legal mining
One bet of the ILO study that would deal head-on with illegal mining activities is the setting up of a Minahang Bayan (MB) that somehow would also protect the ecology.
Minahang Bayan areas are those where small-scale miners can operate legally, enabling the government to better monitor and regulate their extractive activities while helping promote the safety of these workers, protect the environment, and generate revenues for the government.
Declaring more Minahang Bayan areas nationwide increases the opportunity for the government to track small-scale mining. But this is easier said than done.
The MB will be subject to Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) which aims to identify, predicts, interpret, and communicate information on the changes in environmental quality expected to arise from the proposed mining project.
Photo from Flickr
Camarines Norte gold resources
In Paracale, BAN TOXICS, an environmental advocacy group, has been monitoring the activities of the miners.
It has revealed that most mineworkers attributed respiratory issues and skin problems to their exposures to toxic fumes, especially when processing raw gold using mercury.
With gold reserves in Paracale at about 533,172 metric tons (in Gumaus, Tugos, and Sitio Tapukan), local miners are on a roll.
The gold figure was revealed in a 2004 report by the Mining and Geophysics Bureau (MGB).
As it is, the mining sector here continues to thrive, even if its operations were banned by the MGB for being illegal under the existing laws.
The only way to legalize the operations is through the Minahang Bayan that was yet to get an MGB approval.
Half of the municipality’s population is engaged in small-scale mining operations–they work as financiers, mine workers, processors, independent gold panners, and gold buyers.
This translates to about 16,815 residents, or about half of over 34,000 populations, who are benefiting from the industry.
The good news is that the long wait for the MB okay from the government finally came.
A Minahang Bayan in Paracale recently got approval after it had resolved issues on mining rights with claims owners.
The MB called Sangguniang Bayan ng Paracale Small-Scale Mining got its approval in 2018 and is now operating for the first time.
Here, the mining operations are being carried out by a local miners’ group, the Lexington Small-Scale Mining Association. It won a five-hectare mining concession within the 26.4-hectare MB-declared site in barangay Kasalugan, in Paracale, last January. The group is now extracting gold ores from several tunnels.
Lexington, which has received a two-year mining permit renewable for another two years, is allowed to mine up to 50,000 metric tons of gold ore per annum for processing in a designated gold facility in Paracale.
So far, the operations of the Paracale MB have relieved much of the financial woes of the poverty-stricken miners and their families.
Likewise, a vigorous inflow of cash into the mining community has revived its economy.
(Writer’s note: The ILO study group had completed its investigation long before the MB in Paracale got the go signal in 2018. The study was released only last year.)
T’boli, South Cotabato Minahang Bayan
The mining operations in T’boli under a Minahang Bayan scheme have six gold ore tunnels, and 15 ball mills (ore crushing machines).
The ILO study revealed that South Cotabato’s gold mining operations release as much as 69.7 percent of its mercury to land and water as compared to Camarines Norte’s 56.4 percent.
Normally, T’boli and Paracale used an average of 21.2 grams of mercury to process a gram of gold – already a high value that poses a significant and social-environmental risk. However, the two sites had later increased their use of mercury to 48.1g/g.
Mine wastes collected from tailings ponds are stored in ore processing facilities. They are further processed to get the gold dust using activated carbon.
“This process might worsen the mercury contamination level in communities as cyanide reacts with mercury to produce soluble chemical compounds that are easily transported with water, thus contaminating bigger areas,” says the ILO study.
This also produces a mercury-cyano compound that can enter the food chain by seeping into groundwater and drinking water, the rehabilitation of which comes in significant economic cost.
Analysis of samples from tailings ponds of ore processing facilities in T’boli showed those ponds contain 149mg/kg of mercury with an average content of 83.19mg/kg.
Although the numbers are alarming, they pale compared to the findings from Camarines Norte samples showing an average of 934.21mg/kg.
Impact of small-scale mining on water bodies
Lake, river, and bay provide important environmental and economic services such as fishing and farming, especially in rural areas.
Since ASGM operations require water for a variety of reasons, such as sluicing/washing, panning, milling, and amalgamation, these activities need to be close to water sources.
Mining activities and removal of vegetation can cause siltation and sedimentation problems and increase the run-offs, which affects the turbidity of the water. Technicians had observed these in water bodies found near the tunnel areas in T’boli.
Likewise, water bodies near ball mill facilities in Camarines Norte have shown an increase in turbidity, which is simply the muddling of the water.
The increased concentration of silt or contamination can adversely affect aquatic ecology as well. Increased siltation can cloud water and affect the growth of aquatic plants as sunshine could not penetrate the water.
Lack of sanitation also poses concerns on drinking water sources. In several mining sites, miners could just relieve themselves anywhere, as long as he gets “some privacy”.
Threats to groundwater in ore processing facilities may be significant in areas where suitable mine waste handling is not practiced. Issues on water quality, ecosystem, and human health come from mine tailings, mostly crushed ore and rock tainted with mercury.
In forested mine sites, miners would remove vegetation and soil layers, and left mining lands with piles of rock, ores, mine tailings, shallow dug-outs, and deep pits. The operations add up to deforestation and land degradation, which leads to loss of biodiversity, increased chances of erosion, sediment, and pollution.
SSM also affects wildlife negatively. Activities linked to mining such as the use of generators, grinding machines, artificial lights, and extraction and crushing of ores can produce loud, disrupted noise and light pollution, disrupting wildlife.
ASGM may also affect farming practices and encourage miners and mining villages to farm on marginal lands that may be more prone to soil erosion and desertification. They can also affect crops.
In China, rice crops are an important exposure pathway for methylmercury that could affect people in mercury-tainted mining areas.
The study stressed that there is firm evidence that water, food, and soils that are heavily contaminated by metals can lead to adverse effects on human health.
The ILO report said: “The current dismal state of small-scale mining sector may mostly be attributed to the lack of formalization, which promotes unregulated and irresponsible practices often capitalized by a few influential and powerful individuals for personal gains.
“This fuels the endless cycle of marginalizing the sector, as it contributes to the affected communities’ being unable to rise from poverty,” the ILO report noted.
RECENTLY, I visited my father’s coconut farm to check on the progress of our copra-making venture that our farm katiwala was supervising.
His wife had asked me: “Kuya, anong gusto mong ulam sa tanghalian?” (Kuya, what do you want for lunch?)
I told her: “Gusto ko yata ng ginatang sitaw at tinapa … (I think, I’d like to have ginataang sitaw and tinapa…”)”
Wife: “Ayy…wala pong sitaw… bibili pa tayo sa bayan sa palengke …”(Ahh… we got no sitaw nowadays … we’ll have to buy at the market in town …”)
Me: “Sa bayan…? Bakit, wala ba kayong tanim nun…?” (In town…? Why? You don’t grow it anymore?”)
Wife: “Wala nang nagtatanim ng gulay dito sa linang (farm)… sa halip, nagkakabod kami … madali ang kita… pagdating ng hapon, ayun, pera na…”(Nobody grows veggies anymore… we’re all into gold panning .. easy money… by afternoon you got your money…”
Tags: #DepartmentOfEnvironmentandNaturalResources, #mining, #MinahangBayan, #smallscalemining, #environmentaldestruction