The Philippines is blessed with abundant mineral resources and mining is considered to be the economic backbone of the Philippines. The minerals commonly being mined are gold, chromium, copper, iron, manganese and nickel (Mines and Geosciences Bureau: Metallic Mineral Resources). But most of us always look after the economic benefit of mining and stay blinded on the impacts it might cause to the environment and to the existing community.
Mining can cause adverse impact on the environment. It can cause disturbance to the existing flora and fauna and damage land structure during drilling and collection of ore containing minerals. Mining also uses hazardous chemicals during extraction of minerals from its ore. Those used chemicals will be released to the nearest environmental media like soil, water and even in the air due to blowtorching process. The existing community also will be affected even after the mining activity. Lands will be barren and no plants will grow in the mining site because of chemicals used during mining operation. After all, the land that was used for mining is irreversible. Mining site will not be converted into agricultural and any other land use.
All of impacts on mining can be properly mitigated if we want to. There’s the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 and many rules to be followed. Why not comply immediately and live in a clean environment, help the surrounding community and at the same time, generate income from mining? It will be a good thing if we help each other in attaining sustainability.
Having problems in proper environmental management and compliance? No need to worry, Triple I Consulting will be happy to assist you for different environmental concerns and compliance.