Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Large scale mining usually involves a company with many employees. The company mines at one or two large sites and usually stays until
the mineral or metal is completely excavated. An example of a large scale mine is the Serra Pelada mine in Brazil which yielded 29,000 tons
of gold from 1980 to 1986 and employed 50,000 workers (Kricher, 1997).
Small scale mining usually involves a small group of nomadic men. They travel together and look for sites which they think will yield gold or
another valuable metal or mineral. Small scale mining occurs in places such as Suriname, Guyana, Central Africa, and many other places
around the world. Some researchers believe that small scale mining is more harmful to the environment and causes more social problems than
large scale mining. This will become apparent later in the lesson.
Land dredging involves miners using a generator to dig a large hole in the ground. They use a high pressure hose to expose the gold-bearing
layer of sand and clay. The gold bearing slurry is pumped into a sluice box, which collects gold particles, while mine tailings flow into either
an abandoned mining pit or adjacent forest. When the mining pits fill with water from the tailings, they become stagnant water pools. These
pools create a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other water-born insects. Malaria and other water-born diseases increase significantly
whenever open pools of water are nearby.
River dredging involves moving along a river on a platform or boat. The miners use a hydrolic suction hose and suction the gravel and mud as
they move along the river. The gravel, mud, and rocks go through the tailings (pipes) and any gold fragments are collected on felt mats. The
remaining gravel, mud, and rocks go back into the river, but in a different location than where it was originally suctioned. This creates
problems for the river. The displaced gravel and mud disrupt the natural flow of the river. Fish and other living organisms often die and
fishermen can no longer navigate in the obstructed rivers.
The people who are exposed to the toxic waste from the tailings become sick. They develop skin rashes, headaches, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. In
fact, the symptoms of mercury poisoning are very similar to the symptoms of malaria. Many people who can not afford to go to a doctor, or
who live in a village where a doctor is not accessible, are often not treated for their illnesses.
If the water is contaminated, the people can not use it for bathing, cooking, or washing their clothes.
If the man of the household is a small scale miner, he often leaves his wife and children in search of work. This means that the wife and
children must work and provide for themselves. They must also protect themselves from thieves.
Theft, drugs/alcohol, prostitution, rape, and sexual abuse are unfortunately some of the effects of mining.
Cultural degradation also occurs in mining villages. For example, mining often destroys sacred sites and cemetaries. In Guyana, a special
fishing event called Haiari Fishing unfortunately can not take place if the river has been dredged for gold. Remember, the displacement of the
gravel and mud obstruct the natural flow of the river. As a result, fish and other organisms die.
Advantages:
1) Mining of ores will enable people to get useful elements with significant profit.
2) Mining will give unemployed people to get at least the simplest job.
3) Mining of ores might result in finding something new and valuable (since we are digging)
Disadvantages:
1) Since mining sites are usually in the forest areas, trees will be cut while people are getting to these places.
2) Workers might die due to accidents.
3) Mining sites will be wastelands after the mining is over, leaving the farmers less land for agriculture.
The advantage is that it supplies raw materials (metals, coal) that are needed to build and maintain modern industries and economies.
We propose that the monitoring capacity for OHS and working conditions of mines and other enterprise in general should be increase and widened to
make timely and pro-active intervention.
Both government and non-government organizations, unions and other key groups should involve themselves in such an endeavor.
We propose that Health and Safety Education should be given primacy to create culture of safety among workers. More collaboration between union and
NGOs should occur in furtherance of the said objective.
The building and strengthening of Health and Safety Committees should be pushed. We propose that in the case of mines wherein not only workers are
the stakeholder but the community as well.
Community based HSC should be established.
More research and related literature on OHS in Mines should be done and supported. Although there are existing studies, compared to papers and
materials focusing on the environmental effects of mines, informative and substantive studies on OHS in Mines is far behind.
The effects of mines are encompassing. There should be greater solidarity among mine workers around the world, especially in Asia. Solidarity and
networking should also be promoted and developed between environmental, community and labor groups to have a more well-rounded approach in
dealing with mine issues.
Positive effects
1) Provides employment, both directly in the Mining Industry & also elsewhere as the mine employees spent their income on other things.
2) Provides minerals / metals that can be either exported or, avoids the import of these minerals / metals from other countries. In either way, it
helps maintain good foreign currency reserves.
3) Provides infrastructure (roads, electricity, telephone etc) to remote areas of the country where mines are located which are needed by the
mines. But when the mines are exhausted, the infrastructure remains that can be used by others.
Negative effects
1) Fatalities & injuries to mine workers. (Whilst these unquestionably exist, they occur far less than many realise & death / bad injury occur in
other industries too. The Mining Industry is VERY safety conscious.)
2) Pollution from the chemical reagents which are used in the recovery of metals / minerals e.g. cyanide used in the recovery of gold on gold
mines. (What the Greens don't tell you is that even if the cyanide gets outside the area where it is meant to be used, it quickly breaks down to
harmless chemicals so that any environmental damage is minimal. The Mining Industry generally takes a very responsible attitude to the
environment.)
3) The destruction of indigenous flora. Within the area of the mine itself, trees & other plants will have to be ripped up in order to mine out the
mineral. If the mine is an open-pit operation, this may be substantial. (However, no mining company wants to destroy indigenous flora for the
sake of it, & they are generally involved with specific RE-INTRODUCTION of these same species as new plants once the mining has ceased.)
4) The emergence of rock dumps, tailings dams that some people consider unsightly. (When the mining has ceased, these artificial hills are
often seeded & landscaped. After a number of years, it wouldn't be known that the hills were artificial! In underground mining, some of the
rock dump material is reintroduced to the mine as backfill to allow mining to occur at elevations immediately above mined out ground.)
South Africa estimates that from July 2011 to September 2011 there was 1,188,269 ounces of gold and gold uranium produced. There has also
been a plentiful supply of coal in the country.
Russia also has a productive mining industry, its iron ore reserves are estimated to be worth $794 billion, according to The Telegraph. Russia
accounts for 20 percent of the worlds nickel and cobalt production and 5 to 7 percent of the worlds coal and iron ore production. Russia has
about 20,000 mineral deposits explored, to date. The mining industry in Russia is one of the most important industries to the countrys
economy. Leading mining companies in Russia include Norilsk Nickel Mining, Amur Minerals Corp. and Anglo American Platinum Ltd.
Although Russia does have a seemingly good mining industry, Behre Dolbear advises to avoid investment in this country because Russia is
notoriously known for corruption, and is considered a high-risk place to invest your money.
Australia is the worlds second leading supplier of seaborne ore, and this country has reserves valued at $737 billion, reports The Telegraph.
Australia also holds large reserves of other minerals including nickel and bauxite.
Ukraine is also rich in iron ore, the country has $510 billion worth of deposits, says TheTelegraph. Ukraine also has a productive mining
industry, more than 300 mines are in operation. The mining industry contributes a large amount to the countrys economy, accounting for 4.4
percent of the GDP. Leading mining companies with operations in Ukraine include Anika LLC and Black Iron Inc.
Guinea comes in at the number five spot. The country has $222 billion worth of bauxite reserves, reports The Telegraph. Guineas economy
relies largely on the mining industry, as it contributes 25 percent of the countrys income. The country is home to one of the worlds largest
bauxite reserves, and is estimated to contain 24 percent of the worlds bauxite reserves. Leading mining companies in Guinea include
Newmont Mining Corp., Alcoa Inc. and Anglo Aluminum Corp. The future of Guineas mining industry is promising.
The Bukluran para sa Inang Kalikasan (BUKAL) was formally launched at the Bishop House of Archdiocese of Lipa. Representatives from the
Redemptorist Church, De La Salle University, Batangas State University, Lyceum of Batangas and other institutions attended the launching
The alliance called for moratorium on mining in the province and for the stoppage of mining exploration of Mindoro Resources Limited (MRL).
The MRL, a Canadian mining firm, acquired two Minerals Production Sharing Agreements (MPSAs) in 2002 and has already started explorations in the
towns of Rosario, Taysan, San Juan, Lobo and Batangas City. Dubbed as The Archangel Project, the 120-hectare area in Barangay Balibago in the
town of Lobo had undergone drilling and trenching prior to reaching a mineral resource estimate. The resulting mineral resource report of MRL was
completed in February 2008.
The MRL has several mining tenements and agreement covering a total of 29,000 hectares in the province.
Fr. Oliver Castor, BUKAL spokesperson, said, The adverse effects of large scale mining even at its exploration stage of drilling can immediately be felt
by the host communities through destroyed vegetation and altered landscape thereby disturbing thriving ecosystems in the area. Once the operation
reaches large extraction and production stages, it will surely be a blow to the rich biodiversity of forest and marine ecosystems in Batangas.
The priest said that Mount Lobo and Mount Banoi encompassing the town of Lobo, Batangas City and other adjacent municipalities where current
explorations of MRL are being undertaken are watershed areas. Large-scale mining in the area will endanger the health of Batangueos as mine tailings
and other toxic substances will pollute the water systems of Mt. Banoi and Mt. Lobo, which have been a vital source of water supply in the province,
Castor said.
Bishop Ramon Arguelles of the Archdiocese of Lipa said, I am one with the position and concerns of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the
Philippines [CBCP] regarding large-scale mining and mining liberalization policy of the government. I believe foreign-owned mining in Batangas will be
destructive and unsustainable. It will not benefit the Batanguenos and the province as a whole.
Arguelles supported the call to implement a moratorium on large-scale mining in Batangas. As a shepherd of my flock, I need to assure the wellness of
my peoples dwellings and protect them from imminent danger, he said.
Castor belied claims that mining will bring development. He said, What is true is that large scale mining will even hamper economic development in the
province, with the negative effects offsetting any financial benefits in the short run. It does not coincide with the provinces economic program and will
even threaten the agriculture and tourism industry in Batangas. Just imagine how many sources of livelihood for Batangueos will be lost once the
provinces famous beaches, especially the ones located along the Lobo coast gets polluted and its agricultural lands contaminated.
Meanwhile, Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan Peoples Network for the Environment, asserted that large-scale mining provided no
substantial progress for the country and instead has only destroyed the environment and exploited the natural resources, dislocated thousands of farmers
and other residents. Foreign-owned large-scale mining projects have brought about intensified human rights violations such as military violence and land
grabbing, Bautista said.