LEO ATINAN
IS AN IFUGAO TRIBE MEMBER WORKING WITH
OCEANAGOLD'S DIDIPIO GOLD COPPER PROJECT
Monday, September 14, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
EARTHBALLING BY OCEANAGOLD PHILIPPINES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW9oNlpbEmg
OceanaGold conducted earth balling of trees that were affected by the earth movement and construction activities. In 2008, a total of two hundred forty-one (241) earth balled trees of various species and sizes were transplanted in the open areas along newly built road. 90% survival of earthballed trees were recorded. This is just one of the accomplishments of OceanaGold in environmental management in 2008.
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Wednesday, May 27, 2009
OCEANAGOLD PHILIPPINES CONDUCTS TREE PLANTING IN AND AROUND ITS DIDIPIO GOLD COPPER PROJECT
OCEANAGOLD PHILIPPINES CONDUCTS TREE PLANTING IN AND AROUND ITS DIDIPIO GOLD COPPER PROJECT
Oceanagold Philippines, Inc. conducted tree planting activities at Debibi Integrated Elementary School on May 25, 2009 at Barangay Debibi, Province of Quirino, Philippines. The tree planting coincided with the barangay’s three day 39th year Fiesta from May 23 to 25, 2009.
Oceanagold’s Chito Gozar; Vice President for Communications and External Affairs and Lucy Exconde; Sustainability and Community Partnership Manager joined Barangay Debibi Captain Narciso Kitan and Province of Quirino Board Member Gerry Pagbilao in the tree planting.
A total of 5000 trees were planted by Barangay Debibi in its jurisdiction, in collaboration with Oceanagold since the start of the barangay’s tree planting endeavour.
The activity aims to promote and create awareness among the constituents of the barangay and Oceanagold employees in protecting and managing the environment.
As part of the environment protection program, Oceanagold personnel are also involved in reforestation activities. Reforestation is part of the company’s long term measure in stormwater management.
One of the activities is the establishment of fire lines around the Oceanagold’s plantations to protect the trees from fire. Likewise, ring weeding maintenance around each plant to free them from unwanted grasses especially during its first six months after planting is also being undertaken.
Oceanagold employees are actively engaged in activities that promote environment care and protection keeping the community where its project operates, environmentally sound and sustainable.
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Oceanagold Philippines, Inc. conducted tree planting activities at Debibi Integrated Elementary School on May 25, 2009 at Barangay Debibi, Province of Quirino, Philippines. The tree planting coincided with the barangay’s three day 39th year Fiesta from May 23 to 25, 2009.
Oceanagold’s Chito Gozar; Vice President for Communications and External Affairs and Lucy Exconde; Sustainability and Community Partnership Manager joined Barangay Debibi Captain Narciso Kitan and Province of Quirino Board Member Gerry Pagbilao in the tree planting.
A total of 5000 trees were planted by Barangay Debibi in its jurisdiction, in collaboration with Oceanagold since the start of the barangay’s tree planting endeavour.
The activity aims to promote and create awareness among the constituents of the barangay and Oceanagold employees in protecting and managing the environment.
As part of the environment protection program, Oceanagold personnel are also involved in reforestation activities. Reforestation is part of the company’s long term measure in stormwater management.
One of the activities is the establishment of fire lines around the Oceanagold’s plantations to protect the trees from fire. Likewise, ring weeding maintenance around each plant to free them from unwanted grasses especially during its first six months after planting is also being undertaken.
Oceanagold employees are actively engaged in activities that promote environment care and protection keeping the community where its project operates, environmentally sound and sustainable.
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Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Oceanagold Joins the World in Celebrating Earth Day
Did you know that Oceanagold in the Philippines celebrates 'EARTH DAY'?
Earth Day 2009
Oceanagold's Blair Way, President / Paul Laurent, Site Manager / Gil Maglaque, Security Manager
The Didipio Community
This movement, which is celebrated every 22nd of April, continued up to the present and this time it was observed by approximately 175 countries around the world, including the Philippines. It is being coordinated by the nonprofit Earth Day Network who revealed that the celebration is presently the most celebrated holiday in the world, supported by over half billion individuals annually.
Being a mining company that realizes and prioritizes the importance of mitigating the environmental impacts of our operations, OCEANAGOLD have shown their commitment in preserving and protecting the earth through our mitigating measures and projects.
Oceanagold also make sure that in whatever ways they can, they support all international and national environmental celebrations and movements, which include Earth Day.
Activities were chosen to promote forest protection and reforestation since woodlands act as natural “heat sinks” which reduce the effects of global warming to the earth. OceanaGold is aware that every year, the area covered by forest in the Philippines is continuously declining, which is why the Company is committed to preserving and increasing the vegetation within the project vicinity.
Earth Day 2008
Oceanagold Staff and Security Contractor
Oceanagold Contractors
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Tuesday, May 19, 2009
ILLEGAL MERCURY USE BY SMALL SCALE MINERS THREATENS MERCURY CONTAMINATION OF NUEVA VIZCAYA RESIDENTS, ENVIRONMENT
by Brownrichardbrown
The information provided on this by me, Richard Brown, is under my own personal responsibility. Similarly, any opinions expressed are my own and are in no way to be taken as those of a government agency/entity/academe.
Do we have short memories?
The following were studied, discussed, debated, published and acted upon by the government. The government was successful to put a stop on illegal small scale mining activity at Didipio.
But, it looks like history repeats itself.
Illegal small scale miners at Barangay Didipio, Municipality of Kasibu in the province of Nueva Vizcaya are back.
Yes they are back… but not for the good of the community, but threatening mercury contamination of Nueva Vizcaya residents and the environment.
Let us go back in time and read on…
The information provided on this by me, Richard Brown, is under my own personal responsibility. Similarly, any opinions expressed are my own and are in no way to be taken as those of a government agency/entity/academe.
Do we have short memories?
The following were studied, discussed, debated, published and acted upon by the government. The government was successful to put a stop on illegal small scale mining activity at Didipio.
But, it looks like history repeats itself.
Illegal small scale miners at Barangay Didipio, Municipality of Kasibu in the province of Nueva Vizcaya are back.
Yes they are back… but not for the good of the community, but threatening mercury contamination of Nueva Vizcaya residents and the environment.
Let us go back in time and read on…
The hunt of un-permitted small scale miners for gold in the hills of Nueva Vizcaya is exposing to threat of mercury poisoning the health of a tribal community, rivers, and forests of the rustic village.
The diggings may not turn Brgy. Didipio in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya into an underground graveyard as the Diwalwal gold rush caused, but it has started ticking alarm bells as blood samples of residents were found with high mercury.
Water samples taken at the Camgat, Surong, and Didipio rivers all showed mercury beyond the safe levels set by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Initial results of a survey of the Nueva Vizcaya State University (NVSU) showed that water samples at the rivers contain mercury 0.002 milligram per liter. Sent for analysis at the University of the Philippines’ National Science Research Institute (NSRI), the mercury level is above the acceptable 0.0001 milligram per liter.
“The water in the river is murky. There are a few benthic organisms (freshwater fishes like hito) and macrophytes. Dissolved oxygen is low so plankton count (algae and microorganisms that serve as food fishes) is low,” said NVSU Research Director Prof. Elmer T. Castaneto, head of the environmental survey.
“Tilapia used to be an immediate source of livelihood. But now, there are no more areas to fish from. Mercury is highly-toxic even in small amount,” he said.
Blood samples taken from Didipio residents examined at St. Luke’s Hospital showed above normal mercury content.
“The data are raw, but our study has shown the presence of above normal mercury in blood samples. This is just one study that has to be replicated. But even with this, people should be aware of the danger that mercury is there when there should not be,” said Dr. Marilou Abon, NVSU president.
Mercury detection was blamed by the community to illegal small scale mines.
Records show that unlike the Rapu Rapu mine site in Albay, there are nil naturally-occurring mercury in rock types of Didipio.
And while the NVSU survey showed still low levels of mercury on water, stream sediment samples taken from waterbeds indicate high mercury content of up to 4000 ppm, indicating poisonous water flowing into irrigation canals and seeping into the water table and drunk as potable water by community residents.
“It is hypothesized that the Didipio community rice paddies are contaminated too,” Castaneto said.
“The community is afraid they might be drinking contaminated water,” a local Pastor Efren Bulawan said.
“The government should put a stop in this illegal mining. This is the clamor of the community. People are getting killed and human health and the environment are in danger of mercury poisoning,” - Didipio residents during NVSU’s advocacy forum of June 15, 2006.
Castaneto said Nueva Vizcaya’s Environment and Natural Resources Office (ENRO) Chief Roberto Apigo, the Provincial Mining Regulatory Board, and DENR await results forum documentation of the NVSU environmental survey to be able to act on mercury presence in the area.
With its highly-toxic nature, government bans use of mercury in small scale mining operations.
“Mercury is a controlled chemical substance. Government discourages its use. No permit is being issued for it,” said Mines and Geosciences Bureau Mining Tenements Director Leo Jasareno.
Small scale miners use mercury to extract gold from rocks. After grinding the mineral-containing rock into a ball mill, they burn mercury to take out the gold. But vaporizing metallic liquid mercury in the heating process is very dangerous to human health.
Once mercury is inhaled by the human body, this goes to the lungs and 80 percent of what is inhaled is retained by the body, dissolved in fatty tissue, and can damage the central nervous system. Mercury exposure causes damage to the kidney, cardiovascular and immunological system, brain, spinal cord, and liver.
Human intake of mercury-containing fish, accumulated over time, can impair a person’s ability to feel, see, move and taste, causes numbness, tunnel vision, and leads eventually to coma, and death
Mercury intake by pregnant women can cause disorders in the mother and the unborn child.
The chase for gold in the sleepy town has gone on for many years. But this intensified late last year as a mineable copper-gold reserve was announced to be mined by Oceanagold Philippines, Inc. (OGPI) under a Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA).
Over this time, two small scale miners were already killed by the illegal operations. Last June 15, Eugene Ansibey, 27, was killed inside a tunnel in the Didipio hill after experiencing dizziness apparently caused by suffocation from dynamite emitted gas residues.
The use of dynamite requires a government permit; small scale operations are not allowed to use it.
But aside from infringing government’s explosive use policies, small miners exhaust forest timber, which they use to support tunnels, even without permit. This further contributes to erosion and environmental degradation in Didipio.
Operating without the legal sanction, miners expose themselves to death in operations that do not have safety precautions and equipment such as exhausts to eliminate dynamite fumes.
Small scale mining operations in Didipio is believed to be financed by mining operators from other small scale mining sites in the region. Estimates showed that there may be 17 to 20 ball mills involving 190 people in gold panning now in Didipio, all extensively using mercury.
However, local government unit’s (LGU) ability to regulate use of mercury or illegal small scale mining remains to be questionable after the Local Government Act of 1991 transferred this law enforcement power from the DENR to the LGU. This is believed to have caused serious disasters, taking a toll on many lives in small scale mines in Diwalwal, Compostela Valley.
NVSU is set in July to conduct a phase 2 of the study which will involve analysis of mercury content in crabs and fishes. It will also test water from other sites for content of mercury and heavy metal in rivers outside of Didipio - as part of its contribution to environmental conservation in the province.
The diggings may not turn Brgy. Didipio in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya into an underground graveyard as the Diwalwal gold rush caused, but it has started ticking alarm bells as blood samples of residents were found with high mercury.
Water samples taken at the Camgat, Surong, and Didipio rivers all showed mercury beyond the safe levels set by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Initial results of a survey of the Nueva Vizcaya State University (NVSU) showed that water samples at the rivers contain mercury 0.002 milligram per liter. Sent for analysis at the University of the Philippines’ National Science Research Institute (NSRI), the mercury level is above the acceptable 0.0001 milligram per liter.
“The water in the river is murky. There are a few benthic organisms (freshwater fishes like hito) and macrophytes. Dissolved oxygen is low so plankton count (algae and microorganisms that serve as food fishes) is low,” said NVSU Research Director Prof. Elmer T. Castaneto, head of the environmental survey.
“Tilapia used to be an immediate source of livelihood. But now, there are no more areas to fish from. Mercury is highly-toxic even in small amount,” he said.
Blood samples taken from Didipio residents examined at St. Luke’s Hospital showed above normal mercury content.
“The data are raw, but our study has shown the presence of above normal mercury in blood samples. This is just one study that has to be replicated. But even with this, people should be aware of the danger that mercury is there when there should not be,” said Dr. Marilou Abon, NVSU president.
Mercury detection was blamed by the community to illegal small scale mines.
Records show that unlike the Rapu Rapu mine site in Albay, there are nil naturally-occurring mercury in rock types of Didipio.
And while the NVSU survey showed still low levels of mercury on water, stream sediment samples taken from waterbeds indicate high mercury content of up to 4000 ppm, indicating poisonous water flowing into irrigation canals and seeping into the water table and drunk as potable water by community residents.
“It is hypothesized that the Didipio community rice paddies are contaminated too,” Castaneto said.
“The community is afraid they might be drinking contaminated water,” a local Pastor Efren Bulawan said.
“The government should put a stop in this illegal mining. This is the clamor of the community. People are getting killed and human health and the environment are in danger of mercury poisoning,” - Didipio residents during NVSU’s advocacy forum of June 15, 2006.
Castaneto said Nueva Vizcaya’s Environment and Natural Resources Office (ENRO) Chief Roberto Apigo, the Provincial Mining Regulatory Board, and DENR await results forum documentation of the NVSU environmental survey to be able to act on mercury presence in the area.
With its highly-toxic nature, government bans use of mercury in small scale mining operations.
“Mercury is a controlled chemical substance. Government discourages its use. No permit is being issued for it,” said Mines and Geosciences Bureau Mining Tenements Director Leo Jasareno.
Small scale miners use mercury to extract gold from rocks. After grinding the mineral-containing rock into a ball mill, they burn mercury to take out the gold. But vaporizing metallic liquid mercury in the heating process is very dangerous to human health.
Once mercury is inhaled by the human body, this goes to the lungs and 80 percent of what is inhaled is retained by the body, dissolved in fatty tissue, and can damage the central nervous system. Mercury exposure causes damage to the kidney, cardiovascular and immunological system, brain, spinal cord, and liver.
Human intake of mercury-containing fish, accumulated over time, can impair a person’s ability to feel, see, move and taste, causes numbness, tunnel vision, and leads eventually to coma, and death
Mercury intake by pregnant women can cause disorders in the mother and the unborn child.
The chase for gold in the sleepy town has gone on for many years. But this intensified late last year as a mineable copper-gold reserve was announced to be mined by Oceanagold Philippines, Inc. (OGPI) under a Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA).
Over this time, two small scale miners were already killed by the illegal operations. Last June 15, Eugene Ansibey, 27, was killed inside a tunnel in the Didipio hill after experiencing dizziness apparently caused by suffocation from dynamite emitted gas residues.
The use of dynamite requires a government permit; small scale operations are not allowed to use it.
But aside from infringing government’s explosive use policies, small miners exhaust forest timber, which they use to support tunnels, even without permit. This further contributes to erosion and environmental degradation in Didipio.
Operating without the legal sanction, miners expose themselves to death in operations that do not have safety precautions and equipment such as exhausts to eliminate dynamite fumes.
Small scale mining operations in Didipio is believed to be financed by mining operators from other small scale mining sites in the region. Estimates showed that there may be 17 to 20 ball mills involving 190 people in gold panning now in Didipio, all extensively using mercury.
However, local government unit’s (LGU) ability to regulate use of mercury or illegal small scale mining remains to be questionable after the Local Government Act of 1991 transferred this law enforcement power from the DENR to the LGU. This is believed to have caused serious disasters, taking a toll on many lives in small scale mines in Diwalwal, Compostela Valley.
NVSU is set in July to conduct a phase 2 of the study which will involve analysis of mercury content in crabs and fishes. It will also test water from other sites for content of mercury and heavy metal in rivers outside of Didipio - as part of its contribution to environmental conservation in the province.
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Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Didipio Project Will Not Sacrifice Precious Trees
Didipio Project will not sacrifice precious trees
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter to the Editor in response to the news article titled “Bishop airs fear of S. Leyte tragedy repeat in Vizcaya if officials okay operation” written by Bingo Cadabona, which appeared in the Manila Bulletin on February 3, 2004.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
February 3, 2004
Mr. Tony Antonio
Editor-Provincial Bulletin Section
Manila Bulletin
Dear Sir:
Please let me give some comments on the news item “Bishop airs fear of S. Leyte tragedy repeat in Vizcaya if officials okay operation” by Bingo Cadabona, which was carried in yesterday’s issue of your esteemed newspaper:
1. It is grossly unfair for Bishop Ramon Villena to suggest that thousands of trees would be cut and precious hills would be cut once mining operation is allowed in Nueva Vizcaya, particularly the Didipio Project of Climax-Arimco Mining Corporation in Barangay Didipio, Kasibu. The cut and fill mining method of CAMC would have the barest use of timber, as the mine support would rely on the fill materials of mill tailings mixed with cement. Hence, there is no fear for the sacrifice of our precious trees with the implementation of the Didipio Project. It must be noted at this point that a larger part of Didipio (including the 975 hectares Didipio Project area) has been logged over during the logging operations in the ‘70s and ‘80s before the company could even set foot in the area. And this was aggravated by the non-systematic hydraulicking mining method employed by gold panners. It was the company’s settlement in Didipio that injected hope to reforestation with the company’s maintenance of a nursery and implementation of a continuing reforestation program.
2. There is, indeed, an alarming rate of deforestation in the Didipio Valley. But this is due to kaingin farming and not by any mining activity. Pushed by the hard economic times and a growing population, more and more residents of Didipio resort to kaingin for livelihood. A brief trek to Didipio and you will feel sorry at the patches of forestlands that are burned to give way for citrus plantations or cash crop farms. What is even sorrier is that the cut trees are not even sawn into lumber but are just left to rot, as if purposely to become fertilizer to the soil? This is understandable as it would be costly and needing hard labor to haul the lumber, anyway.
This is not unknown to Bishop Villena, as he visited Didipio Valley one time last year, apart, of course, from the report of his personnel who visit the area from time to time. Any moment now, I am sure that Bishop Villena could present a game plan to stop the further forest destruction in Didipio and prevent a possible repeat of the Southern Leyte Tragedy in Nueva Vizcaya. And it would be an ideal set-up if the Diocese of Bayombong could team up with the DENR and the LGU concerned for the purpose.
But the whole point is that the Didipio Project would, actually, be an indirect solution to minimize kaingin farming rather than a cause of forest denudation. With a lot of job opportunities offered by the mining operation, people need no longer burn the forest for livelihood.
3. The Didipio Project is expected to enhance the farming industry in the Didipio Valley contrary to what is being spread that the mine will destroy the agricultural livelihood. With the opening and maintenance of a road network, the agricultural products from the area can readily reach better market and get better selling price. The mine community would even be an immediate market in itself. While the possible damages due to pollution of river systems are valid concerns, these are provided with measures to mitigate, if not totally arrest, the possible effects. These are spelled out in the Environmental Management Plan provided for the Didipio Project.
It is fervently hoped that the media would find time to learn about the details of the Didipio Project and, thereafter, provide some space for a glimpse of the environmental program. It would not mean being bias in favor of the mining company. Rather, it will be in pursuit of fair journalism where all concerns are presented. As one paper aptly puts, it would be “news as it should be, the good, the bad and the ugly”.
Thank you and more power!
Very truly yours,
Benedict Gapongli
Mining Engineer
Mines and Geosciences Bureau-Region 02
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter to the Editor in response to the news article titled “Bishop airs fear of S. Leyte tragedy repeat in Vizcaya if officials okay operation” written by Bingo Cadabona, which appeared in the Manila Bulletin on February 3, 2004.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
February 3, 2004
Mr. Tony Antonio
Editor-Provincial Bulletin Section
Manila Bulletin
Dear Sir:
Please let me give some comments on the news item “Bishop airs fear of S. Leyte tragedy repeat in Vizcaya if officials okay operation” by Bingo Cadabona, which was carried in yesterday’s issue of your esteemed newspaper:
1. It is grossly unfair for Bishop Ramon Villena to suggest that thousands of trees would be cut and precious hills would be cut once mining operation is allowed in Nueva Vizcaya, particularly the Didipio Project of Climax-Arimco Mining Corporation in Barangay Didipio, Kasibu. The cut and fill mining method of CAMC would have the barest use of timber, as the mine support would rely on the fill materials of mill tailings mixed with cement. Hence, there is no fear for the sacrifice of our precious trees with the implementation of the Didipio Project. It must be noted at this point that a larger part of Didipio (including the 975 hectares Didipio Project area) has been logged over during the logging operations in the ‘70s and ‘80s before the company could even set foot in the area. And this was aggravated by the non-systematic hydraulicking mining method employed by gold panners. It was the company’s settlement in Didipio that injected hope to reforestation with the company’s maintenance of a nursery and implementation of a continuing reforestation program.
2. There is, indeed, an alarming rate of deforestation in the Didipio Valley. But this is due to kaingin farming and not by any mining activity. Pushed by the hard economic times and a growing population, more and more residents of Didipio resort to kaingin for livelihood. A brief trek to Didipio and you will feel sorry at the patches of forestlands that are burned to give way for citrus plantations or cash crop farms. What is even sorrier is that the cut trees are not even sawn into lumber but are just left to rot, as if purposely to become fertilizer to the soil? This is understandable as it would be costly and needing hard labor to haul the lumber, anyway.
This is not unknown to Bishop Villena, as he visited Didipio Valley one time last year, apart, of course, from the report of his personnel who visit the area from time to time. Any moment now, I am sure that Bishop Villena could present a game plan to stop the further forest destruction in Didipio and prevent a possible repeat of the Southern Leyte Tragedy in Nueva Vizcaya. And it would be an ideal set-up if the Diocese of Bayombong could team up with the DENR and the LGU concerned for the purpose.
But the whole point is that the Didipio Project would, actually, be an indirect solution to minimize kaingin farming rather than a cause of forest denudation. With a lot of job opportunities offered by the mining operation, people need no longer burn the forest for livelihood.
3. The Didipio Project is expected to enhance the farming industry in the Didipio Valley contrary to what is being spread that the mine will destroy the agricultural livelihood. With the opening and maintenance of a road network, the agricultural products from the area can readily reach better market and get better selling price. The mine community would even be an immediate market in itself. While the possible damages due to pollution of river systems are valid concerns, these are provided with measures to mitigate, if not totally arrest, the possible effects. These are spelled out in the Environmental Management Plan provided for the Didipio Project.
It is fervently hoped that the media would find time to learn about the details of the Didipio Project and, thereafter, provide some space for a glimpse of the environmental program. It would not mean being bias in favor of the mining company. Rather, it will be in pursuit of fair journalism where all concerns are presented. As one paper aptly puts, it would be “news as it should be, the good, the bad and the ugly”.
Thank you and more power!
Very truly yours,
Benedict Gapongli
Mining Engineer
Mines and Geosciences Bureau-Region 02
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Monday, March 16, 2009
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