'Legacy' of the mines: Ghosts of mining's past continue to haunt industry - Business Mirror

Abandoned open-pit mines, the scars left behind by irresponsible mining, the ridge-to-reef destruction that had caused people in host communities to suffer until today, continue to haunt the country’s mining industry.

The Marcopper mines in Marinduque, the “poster boy” of irresponsible mining, continue to pose serious threats to communities, more than three decades after it was shut down and abandoned.

In Palawan, thousands of people were found to have traces of toxic mercury, which leads to lingering illness and most probably death if uncured.

There may be a lot of “horror” stories to tell , as there are 14 abandoned open-pit, or “legacy”, mines in the Philippines, none of which had undergone rehabilitation.

They do not only pose grave danger to the communities, but have destroyed the economic potential and productivity of the area and became a perpetual liability to the government, as the mining companies that have profited from their operations have already left, escaping financial liability, as well as social and moral accountability.

Lopez factor

These were the reasons staunch antimining advocate Regina Paz L. Lopez, then as chief steward of the country’s environment and natural resources, decided to issue Department Administrative Order 2017-10 on April 27, effectively banning prospective open-pit mining for gold, copper, silver and complex ores.

The Philippines is rich in gold, copper, nickel, zinc, iron and other mineral deposits. Still, mining’s contribution to the economy in terms of GDP remains poor and below 1 percent.

Environmental and antimining groups lament the destruction caused by large-scale mines,  particularly the ones that use the open-pit mining method, threatening the country’s rich natural resources and undermining food and water security, issues that the big players in the mining industry continue to debunk with claims of spurring economic activities in areas not covered or reached by government services,  including the unaccounted costs of infrastructure projects like roads, bridges, schools and health-care centers; and various projects and programs under individual corporate social responsibility initiatives and the mandated social development management program, or SDMPs, like scholarship programs and livelihood projects.

Reversals

The Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC), after undertaking a review sought by the mining industry’s big players under the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP), has recommended the lifting of the open-pit mining ban.

Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, who expressed hope that it will be done before the end of the year, will present the recommendation for final approval by President Duterte during a meeting in Malacañang on November 6.

The COMP welcomed the MICC recommendation, viewing it as “a positive development” for the industry that went through more than 10 months of “policy storm” under Lopez as secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The COMP, through its executive director, Ronald Recidoro, said they are looking forward to a meeting with Cimatu to convince the country’s top environment official to support the call to lift the moratorium on new mining projects, and open the floodgates for more mining investments.

Aside from the open-pit mines, COMP and mining companies affected by mine closure and suspension orders issued by Lopez are seeking for reversal through appeals filed before the MICC and Office of the President, which deferred action to the DENR.

While under appeal, the closure and suspension orders are held in abeyance, pending final resolution by the government.

The DENR is currently conducting the review of Lopez’s orders, the majority of which are nickel-mining operations. COMP earlier said that around 1.2 million people who directly and indirectly benefit from the operations of the mines will be affected by Lopez’s orders.

Open pits

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 sand, cinder and gravel.

Mining companies consider open-pit mining as the fastest, safest way of extracting mineral ore deposits, although environmentalists reject this 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.

As these open pits are left idle, over the years, water accumulates, creating seemingly man-made lakes or dams. Excessive rain often triggers spilling into rivers affecting the communities, which happened in 1996 at the Marcopper mine in Marinduque, which led to the declaration of Boac River as “biologically dead”.

It took two decades before the river showed signs of recovery, but the water flowing from the mines continues to pose health hazards because of the toxic chemicals, like lead and mercury, that have been widely recorded in barangays around the mines.

‘Disgusting’

Lopez, the proponent of the open-pit mining ban, criticized the MICC and defended her decision to issue the order.

In a series of text and e-mail messages, Lopez, whose appointment to the top DENR post was rejected by the powerful Commission on Appointments last May, was resolute about the adverse impact of open-pit mines.

“All those open pits are near rivers and streams, and all of them hit water tables. In more than a hundred years, we don’t have one rehabilitated open pit [mine].  Mining companies can take care of them while mine—and then what happens after?” Lopez lamented.

Lopez said there is no proof that open-pit mines, after mining, can be rehabilitated—unless cared for regularly.

“The question is who will take on that cost?  Who takes on that risk?  If the MICC says it can be rehabilitated, then rehabilitate one,” she said.

According to Lopez, the decision of the MICC to recommend setting aside her ban on open pits is “disgusting”, as “it catered to business interests” instead of safeguarding the Constitutional and God-given rights of the people to a healthful ecology.

“[It’s] disgusting. I truly hope that Secretary Cimatu will do his duty and protect our people. MICC said they will strictly follow rules and regulations. Following rules does not take away the reality that these pits will be there forever, and these pits have to be neutralized forever,” she warned.

“Following rules and regulations does not take away the reality that communities are taking the risk so that people with already so much money can make more. An open pit the size of 700 football fields is going to kill the food basket of Mindanao,” she said, referring to the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project.

“It’s madness, and Philex wants to put up a $2-billion open pit in Mindanao [Silangan Gold Project]? No matter what their plans are, it doesn’t take away the risk. Why should our communities take the risk so that they will take money?” Lopez said.

According to the former DENR chief, Philex has heavily invested in Silangan, with around 60 percent of its assets poured for the development of the mine. “There is so much money involved. The welfare of our people should take precedence; and it’s government’s responsibility to take care of our people,” she said.

Lopez vowed to seek an audience with Duterte anew, to convince the country’s top official not to lift the ban on open-pit mining.

COMP’s response

In a telephone interview, Recidoro debunked Lopez’s claim that open-pit mines cannot be rehabilitated.

“It is being done now. There are two open-pit mines that are undergoing rehabilitation—TVI and Rapu-Rapu,” he said.

Recidoro was referring to the on-going rehabilitation of open-pit mines: the TVI Resource Development Phils Inc’s  Canatuan mine in Zamboanga del Norte, which operated between 2004 and 2014, and Lafayette Ltd. Inc.’s Rapu-Rapu mine on the Island of Rapu-Rapu.

The MICC, he said, weas provided by COMP an expert resource-person information about the on-going rehabilitation, and said it could be the reason the MICC was convinced that rehabilitation can be done.

Recidoro described it is “unfair” for Lopez to blame responsible miners for the legacy mines.

“Legacy mines, which were closed between the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, and owners can no longer be found. The owners of these mines should be the ones held liable [by the government],” he said.

Recidoro said the legacy mines referred to by Lopez were mines done when there was still no measure mandating rehabilitation of the mines, or before the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 became a law.

Under the new mining law, he said, there are adequate measures to ensure rehabilitation, citing the establishment of a fund for the implementation of the company’s Final Mine Rehabilitation and Decommissioning Plan.

According to Recidoro, the government has several options to address Lopez’s concerns about the legacy mines that haunt the industry in particular and the mineral development sector in general.

“What the government can do is enter into a public-private partnership to develop these abandoned mines,” he said.

Although the legacy mines are already abandoned, Recidoro said, private companies that are into mining, agriculture, or even tourism, will be very much interested in partnering with the government for the development of the abandoned mines.

“There are still deposits in these areas.  There are roads and it can be developed,” he said.

Recidoro said in other mining countries, open-pit mines were successfully rehabilitated and made productive anew. Some are developed for ecotourism. “There’s one open-pit mine that was converted into a golf course,” he said.

Such recommendations are up to the government to consider, although there’s no policy in place for the rehabilitation of the abandoned or legacy mines. Until such time, the legacy mines will continue to be the ghost of mining’s past, haunting not only the industry and mineral-development sector, but also the government for a very long time for its apparent failure to stop the destruction, or at the very least, rehabilitate and develop these idle economic resources.