Sitting on a Gold Mine: Will Mining

Make or Break the Philippines?

The Philippine government believes bolstering extractive industries will drive
growth. But religious leaders and environmentalists wonder about the cost
By Catherine Traywick Sept. 13, 2012 (TIME MAGAZINE)
In Compostela Valley, in the southern Philippines, a river streaked many shades of brown cuts
through farmland and jungle brush to release its muck into the sea. The slurry swells around
the coastline, muddying the emerald waters. The source of the blight is an eroded
mountainside peppered with blue tarps and tiny shacks, a gold mine nestled among green hills.
About 600 families reside on its steep slope, eking out a living by half-grams of gold.

They are, technically, squatters. An American company, St. Augustine Gold & Copper, holds the
rights to this mountain and those surrounding it. In their place, the company wants to build
massive pits to get at the estimated 962 million tons of precious metals beneath. They also
promise to clean the river, plant trees and create jobs. It is a massive undertaking that will
dramatically alter the landscape and displace the thousands of workers who have been mining
in the area, and fueling the local economy, since the 1980s.

The Philippine government, for its part, is rooting for the American firm, grounded in the belief
that large-scale mining can be a golden engine of economic growth. Corporate mining permits
have multiplied under President Benigno Aquino III, and new mining rules filed by his
administration this week will place new restrictions on where and what small-scale miners can
mine. But many Filipinos, especially those from mining communities, are wary of his plans. They
want an overhaul of current mining laws. They also want a bigger piece of the profit.
Sitting on a Gold Mine: Will Mining Make or Break the Philippines?

ISSUES:

>Does it make or break the Philippines?

CONCERNS:

>Lost and Gains

MT. DIWALWAL MINING (PHILIPPINES)

Mt. Diwalwal is located in the Southeastern region of the Philippines. In 1982, the
discovery of gold on this mountain triggered a gold rush to an area of 729 hectares. In
the opinion of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), it is ‘the
largest gold deposit in the world’. An estimated $1.8 billion worth of gold reserves
remain untapped in the 5,000-hectare mountain where some 30,000 small-scale miners
operate, many illegally. The Naboc and Agusan rivers are grossly contaminated with
mercury and cyanide from mining operations.

(http://www.blacksmithinstitute.org)

The gold mining site Mt. Diwalwal in the Philippines is notorious for its
violent competition between tunnel owners which claimed many lives,
especially in the 1980s and 1990s. Since the big tunnel owners
monopolized the gold trade and pushed many small-scale miners out of
their businesses, violence and shootings have become more rare in
Diwalwal. (Manuel Domes June 22, 2011)

Sanny Bangcayao, president of the Lower Gumayan Small-Scale Miners Cooperative in Pantukan,
Compostela Valley, said that the small-scale mining industry is a major player in the local economy and
must be supported instead of being restrained. In the mining areas in the Davao region, the small-scale
miners are well organized as cooperatives and are very eager to acquire mining permits for the
Minahang Bayan, Bangcayao explained. “We filed our mining application 5 years ago. But up to now
there are no any progress in our application. It seems that the MGB (Minerals and Geosciences Bureau)
is prioritizing the applications of foreign large-scale mining companies,” he commented. The small-scale
mining industry, Bangcayao said, is asking the government to provide sufficient technical and financial
support to create more sustainable operations in the Minahang Bayan in the various parts of the
archipelago.“If you will compare the land area being touched and excavated by the small-scale miners
and the large-scale mining companies, ours is just a handful compared to their thousands of hectares,”
Bangcayao said. (By Karlos Manlupig Published Sun, Jul 8, 2012 7:34 PM)

“The mining industry must be environment friendly and must contribute to

the national industrialization of the country. We deserve a pro-people and
pro-environment mining policy,” said Dr. Jean Lindo of the Kalikasan
Partylist.”
(By Karlos Manlupig Published Sun, Jul 8, 2012 7:34 PM)