Sagada miners fined P1-M; Planet Gold ups extraction

 

SAGADA-  Representatives from  Planet GOLD (Global Opportunities for the Long Term Development), Mines and Geo Sciences Bureau (MGB), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), local governments units of Sagada Municipality and Mountain Province, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) pose with small scale miners of Sagada and Besao following their  forum here at  barangay Bangaan. (Gina Dizon) 

By Gina Dizon

SAGADA, Mountain Province --  Fined for P1 million by residents downstream for using mercury in their gold extraction in 2001, the Northern Barangays Sagada Small Mining Association (NBSMA) has returned to manual method now improved with centralized gold extraction  facility availed from Planet GOLD.
    This with the conduct of a regional artisanal forum with Planet GOLD (Global Opportunities for the Long Term Development) for  Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining (ASGM), Mines and Geo Sciences Bureau (MGB), BangkoSentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and  small scale miners of Sagada and Besao here at barangay Bangaan last Sept. 19.
    Planet GOLD project manager Abigail Ocate said further gold extraction shall be done in partnership with Loakan Itogon Pocket Miners Association (LIPMA).
    NBSMA’s manual method recovers 60% from the nava (gold ore) with the remaining 40% remaining stuck in the mine tailings subject to extraction by LIPMA in their processing plant.
    Planet GOLD shall assist LIPMA to increase its gold extraction process, Ocate said in an interview.
    Planet GOLD aims to make small scale gold mining safer with the non-use of mercury and cyanide and let small scale miners gain from responsible mining.
    Planet GOLD is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organizations (UNIDO) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in partnership with the MGB and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
    Aside from NBSMA, Planet GOLD also partners with small scale miners of Paracale, Camarines Norte in the same project though Paracale miners make use of amino acid in their gold extraction.
    Small scale miners from northern Sagada have since then been doing manual extraction since folks from downstream Tetep-an then accused northern Sagada  miners  from polluting Amlosong River where the latter source their irrigation water.
    Villagers from Tetep-an complained of river fish having been killed and their rice produce having decreased due to mine tailings and mine waste directly flowed to the river.
    For quite some time, NBSMA transported its mine tailings to LIPMA and sold to other buyers.   
    Processed gold ready for market is sold in the black market.
    More than 90% of informal gold production  is sold in  the black market and eventually reaches  China, lawyer Noel Malimban regional director of  BSP  said.
    Studies say undocumented exports of gold are sent to Hongkong, Malimban added. 
    The BSP can only buy gold from mining associations registered as Minahang Bayan and has mining contract with the DENR.
    One of BSP’s gold buying station is available in Baguio City.
    Four others are located in Davao, Naga, Zamboanga and Quezon City.
    One gram of gold is purchased now at P3,518 as of press time.
    Eighty percent of the BSP’s gold reserves come from small scale mining with $13.3 million  gross production value from SSM, a leaflet from Planet Gold reveals.
    Malimban said large scale mining companies sell gold anywhere.
    Malimban said major contribution of small scale miners to the national economy when gold is sold to the BSP is the increase of  gold  international reserves  and the country’s consequent  decrease on dollar exchange.
    Selling gold to BSP is advantageous to the country’s economy with gold serving as reserves in case of financial crisis.
    Malimban encouraged small scale miners to register their organization with the government, secure a mining contract and thus be able to sell gold to BSP.
    Not only is formal registration of a mining association beneficial to the country’s economy but also to local communities concerned.  
    Apil in said forum noted that with duly registered Minahang Bayan and  mining contract  of small scale miners lets revenue generation  of the host barangay  have a share of 40% from taxes paid though the provincial government, the province getting 30% and the municipality with 40% share.
    That is, if  the source is legal the seller being duly registered as a Minahang Bayan  and has a mining contract awarded  by the  Provincial Mining Regulatory Board composed  of representatives from  the MGB-DENR, ProvinciaL LGU, small scale miners, big scale miners and private organization.
    There are some 250 small scale miners from Mountain Province registered with the MGB out of some 2,050  from the Cordillera with half of the total number from Benguet.
    Mountain Province has small scale miners from Mainit, Bontoc;  Laylaya, Besao; Mabalite,Tadian;  and Fidelisan, Sagada.  
Small scale miner Cornelio Pagada from Laylaya, Besao hoped that Mountain Province buy gold  to eventually sell to BSP and for individual miners to be travelling to Manila or elsewhere to sell their gold production.
    In response to Pagada’s aspiration, Malimban in an interview said it is possible if the operation is cost effective vis a vis gold production.
    As it is, only the NBSMA from Mountain Province is registered and with a mining permit. 
Only NBSMA and LIPMA  among duly registered  13 Minahang Bayan of the region are the only two mining associations  granted  mining permits by DENR  having complied with the requirements. 
    A Minahang Bayan permit is given a contract of two years  in order to legalize its operations. A legally registered miners organization is given an Ore Transport Permit (OTP) in order to have its gold ores/mine tailings  transported for processing.
    Otherwise if not, transported ore/tailings are intercepted  along the way and confiscated by the DENR.
    NBSMA’a permit is on the process of renewal.
    A major agenda of the small scale miners groups here during the forum is their renewal or registration as Minahang Bayan.
Small scale mining in this northern part of town was done in the early  70s with the usual  traditional ‘tiktik’ method using  pick and shovel and  developed to the high tech  jackleg, compressors and  blasting  equipment in the ‘90s and made full blast in the  years 2000.
    Water-powered ‘gilingan’ (milling equipment) was done and mercury was used to separate the gold dust from the gold ore. Gold extraction  used  gosgos method where pounding  was  done  in  a mortar with spiked nails  and by the process of  ‘gosgos’ on a rock called ‘molingan’. 
    In the mid ‘80s to the  ‘90s, blasting  equipment was initiated and lamps were used as light in exploring the tunnels. Spot lights came years after followed by  electricity-lighted tunnels in the ‘90s. Mechanized equipment such as jacklegs and compressors became a need to compensate for the time spent in searching for or pursuing  a gold vein.
    But blasting using explosives is against the law. Republic Act 7076 or the Small Scale  Mining Act  refers to small-scale mining as “ mining activities which rely heavily on manual labor using simple implement and methods and do not use explosives or heavy mining equipment;”

    In said forum, officer in charge engineer Theodore Pestano of MGB’s mining technology division said amendments were being formulated   to “respond to  the overarching need  for blasting considering  production  and livelihood.”