BAGUIO City—The government is determined on implementing major policy reforms in the development of the country’s small-scale mining industry. Noting that small-scale mining remains to be a problem, Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Director Leo Jasareno said at the recent 58th Mine Safety and Environment Conference in Baguio City, “More sustainable measures need to be adopted to urgently address small-scale mining, especially illegal mining activities in the country.”
According to Jasareno, the proliferation of small-scale mining poses many problems that include the existence of two laws (Republic Act 7076 and Presidential Decree 8099); unabated use of mercury in extracting gold; unsafe mining practices; lack of environmental impact mitigation; illegal use of heavy equipment and explosives; the noncollection of excise tax by government causing about a billion of losses in a year; rapid decrease of mineral deposits due to selective mining; and proliferation of illegal small-scale mining operation.
“We have been working on policy reforms to tighten regulation of small-scale mining activities such as enforcing only one small-scale mining law, implementing the minahan ng bayan, enhancing environmental standards, increasing revenue from mining and protecting investments in the mining sector,” Jasareno said.
Jasareno also said illegal small-scale mining activities can be found in more than 30 provinces in the country, with thousands of persons directly engaged in this activity. He added that small-scale miners account for a significant volume of the total gold production in the Philippines. From 2008-2009 alone, small-scale mining accounted for 62 percent of the country’s total gold production or P76.7 billion.
The continued increase in the price of gold and the pressure for alternative source of income led to the proliferation of gold rush in many areas such as in Davao del Norte, Camarines Norte and Benguet. In order to lessen the unregulated mining activities in the country, the MGB has denied 1,606 mining applications covering about 3 million hectares of prospective mineral lands.
“Despite the challenges, the government will continue to promote responsible and sustainable mining in the country. Many measures have to be put in place to ensure the survival of the mining industry. The administration has to address those issues, especially in the area of policy,” Jasareno stressed.
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By: Imelda Abano
Source: Business Mirror, Nov. 12, 2011
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