Historically, mining has been known in the Philippines as early as 1521. It was a common belief that, before the arrival of foreign invaders, native Filipinos have been panning gold deposited in many parts of the country. Filipinos have also been cultivating copper for some major purposes. Copper, at early times, played a major role in trade between the Chinese and the Filipinos. Overall, mining firms in the Philippines, as pointed out by Paragas, are believed to have its first operation in early 1990s.

By virtue of Republic Act 7942, otherwise known as the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, a new perspective on mining system in the Philippines eventually emerged. This particular act was mainly instituted to “govern the exploration, development, utilization and processing of all mineral resources within the territory and exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.” In addition, this act also safeguards and protects the environment. Chapter XI, Section 63, of Republic Act 7942, states that “all contractors and permittees shall strictly comply with all the mines safety rules and regulations as may be promulgated by the Secretary concerning the safe and sanitary upkeep of the mining operations and achieve waste-free and efficient development…”

On the contrary, however, the above provisions seem to be ineffective and neglected. Instead of conforming to the provisions of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, the operation and management of mining industries in the country negate the principles provided by the law. Apparently, the mining companies operating in the Philippines are considered as one of the major contributors to environmental degradation and deterioration. In one study published by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism in the late 1990s, mining ranked next to logging as a commercial activity that has wreaked havoc on terrestrial as well as hydrological resources. From then on, mining industries and companies have often faced criticisms from environmentalists, activists, biodiversity advocates and other sectors of the country. The most recent one is the condemnation of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines or CBCP to Arroyo’s administration. The CBCP requested that the President should cancel and withdraw all the permits granted to mining industries, especially foreign-owned companies. The CBCP courageously pointed out that foreign-led mining firms are major contributors to ecological imbalance or deterioration, human dislocation as well as the burgeoning mining-caused accidents and deaths.

The mining extraction in the country has been considered as one of the major offenders of the environment. Mining industries often cause severe tailings of bodies of water which adversely affect its inhabitants such as fish. The extraction of minerals has also been considered as one of the most environmentally destructive man-made activities. Logged-over areas can at least still be farmed, but mined-out areas have rarely been rehabilitated and remain useless eyesores and disasters waiting to happen. Mining also often results in the devastation of landscape. Additionally, it also emits harmful ingredients or substances such as mercury that can seriously damage the environment. Excessive discharge, for instance, of mercury often heavily contaminates and pollutes bodies of water. At the same time, mercury also leads to the destruction of vegetation and groundwater resources. Large quantities of waste from mining industries which subsequently creates problems of air pollution, increased sediment loads in water courses and harmful pollutants often cause major hydrological disturbances.

It is a challenge now to show that, while mining is really the backbone of economic growth, the mining industry should operate within the framework of pursuing genuine industrialization and support genuine ecological and environmental reform. Mining industries should unabridgedly conform and adhere to the provisions granted by the law. Any unlawful acts of mining industries should immediately be punished by withdrawing their permits. As much as possible, mining firms in the country should promote environmental awareness among miners, mine inspector and mine supervisors themselves. Although mine safety has improved greatly in recent decades, mining still must be considered as a hazardous industry, and because of its nature is likely to continue to be so. This calls for even greater efforts on the part of the government and industry to improve the situation including technology and regulation.

Thanks to Aris E. Enconado for allowing us to repost his article on this blog
You can read the original article here

Whether we like or not mining is essential to human growth, improvement and as we move forward people have strongly become dependent to mining. I must say that no one can survive without mining.

We support the no2mininginpalawan 10 millions signature campaign not because we are against mining industries but because we want to preserve and protect the Philippines last ecological frontier against mining companies that has been operational in some areas in Palawan. WE believe that through blogging and social networking sites we can voice out our concerns and we’re in good hopes that in creating this blog we come in support in saving Palawan.

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Air: Mining has a great effect on the quality of the air. Since mines need to blast through rock to get to an ore, dust may be produced in the process. Coal mines release methane, which contributes to environmental issues because it is a greenhouse gas. The methane is sometimes captured, but only where it is economically feasible to do so. Some cooling plants may release ozone-depleting substances, but the amount released is very small. Non-vegetated or uncapped tailings dams release dust, and when radioactive elements are found in the ore, radiation is emitted. Heavy metals, such as sulfur dioxide, may be polluted into the air by unsafe smelter operations with insufficient safeguards. The gold mining industry is one of the most destructive industries in the world, because of all of the toxins that are released into the air. Acid rain and smog are also some side-effects of mining. Every year, 142 million tons of sulfur dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere because of smelting. That’s 13% of total global emissions.

Water: Mines use a lot of water, though some of the water is reusable. Sulfide – containing minerals, when oxidized through contact with air, via mining, form sulfuric acid. This, when combined with trace elements, negatively impacts groundwater. This happens from both surface and underground mines. Another way surface and underground water are affected is through tailings dams and waste rock heaps, because they are a source of acidic drainage water.
Leftover chemical deposits from explosives are usually toxic, and increase the salinity of mine water, as well as contaminating it. Groundwater can be directly contaminated through “in situ” mining, in which a solvent seeps into un-mined rock, leaching minerals. In the extraction of minerals, some toxins (for example cyanide and mercury) are used that can permanently pollute the water, making it hard for fishers to find fish. Spills into oceans and lakes add toxic heavy metals and sulfuric acid into the environment, which can take ages to fix. Also, Acid Mine Drainage lowers the pH of the water, making it more acidic.

Land: There are many environmental concerns about the effects mining has on the land. Trees need to be cut down in order to have a mine built, and whole forests could be destroyed. Mining involves moving large quantities of rock, and in surface mining, overburden land impacts are immense. Overburden is the material that lies overtop of the desirable mineral deposits that must be removed before the mining process begins. Some mines make an effort to return the rock and land to its original appearance by returning the rock and overburden to the pit that they were taken out of. Copper mines sometimes extract ore that has very little copper actually in it (less than 1%). Almost all of the mined ore of non-ferrous metals becomes waste. A lot of areas are pock marked by thousands of small holes by people digging in search of precious minerals. Mining activities also may lead to erosion, which is dangerous and bad for the land. It destroys river banks, and changes how the river flows, where it flows, what lives in it, etc. Toxins used in the extraction of minerals (for example cyanide and byproducts like mercury) can permanently pollute the land, which makes people not able to farm in certain places. Open-pit mining leaves behind large craters that can be seen from outer-space.

Ecosystem Damage: Mines are highly damaging to the ecosystems surrounding them. Many different types of mines affect many different types of ecosystems. For example, deep-sea mines are at high risk of eliminating rare and potentially valuable organisms. Mining destroys animal habitats and ecosystems. Pits that mines create could have been home to some animals. Also, the activity that surrounds the mine, including people movement, explosions, road construction, transportation of the goods, the sounds made, etc. are harmful to the ecosystems and will change the way the animals have to live, because they will have to find a new way to cope with the mine and live around it. Spills of deadly substances obviously have a very negative effect on animals and ecosystems in general. Many of the toxins and tailings that are discharged from the mines can disrupt and disturb the way animals live, and their health. Mining can completely destroy ecosystems by adding or taking out something from the animals’ everyday lives, therefore throwing the whole thing out of balance.

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