KASIBU, Nueva Vizcaya—In response to the call for comprehensive audits on all mining operations in the country, Australian mining company OceanaGold-Philippines Inc. (OGPI), which runs the Didipio Gold-Copper Project in this upland town, has expressed willingness to welcome the transparent audit by the national government that may cover technical, environmental and social development aspects of its mining operations.
OGPI SVP for Communications and External Affairs Ramoncito P. Gozar said the company is ready for any audit, and is confident of its track records on responsible mining operations.
In his first State of the Nation Address, President Duterte called on mining companies to “shape up” and stop destroying the environment, but assured those complying with current laws on mineral extraction not to worry.
Earlier this year at the Wallace Business Forum, Mr. Duterte said he would support mining, as long as it upholds the stringiest environmental standards. He said the best he can see is the Australian standard. The President told members of the Wallace Business Forum to just follow the Australian standard and take care of the environment.
“The OGPI Didipio operation is ISO 14001-certified, and is the first mining project to receive such accreditation in 2015 providing the criteria for environmental-management system mandated by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources,” Gozar said. The Aussie firm operates with OHSAS 18001, a certification on health and safety-management system.
In 2015 OGPI was awarded the Presidential Mineral Industry Environmental Award (PMIEA) for exhibiting outstanding level of dedication, initiative and innovation in pursuit of excellence in mining operations, environmental, safety, health management and community development.
“Any audit would also reveal OGPI’s significant contributions to its host communities over and above the mandated requirements under the Philippine Mining Act. Notable is the Didipio Community Development Corp. (DiCorp), which was established August 11, 2011 to assist the local community in creating sustainable business partnership among enterprising locals,” Gozar said.
DiCorp Chairman Henry Guay said his community-based business enterprise composed of 391 genuine Didipio residents, employs 372 local workers who offer services, like food catering, for the OGPI Operations and take charge in maintaining the 22-kilometer service road developed by the mining firm from Dibibi, Cabarroguis, Quirino to the Didipio mine site. DiCorp is one of the two top tax-payers in Nueva Vizcaya, next to OceanaGold.
“DiCorp is the best corporate partnership that binds original Didipio dwellers providing services of world-class standards,” Guay said.
The Didipio Operations employs more than 2,000 mining employees and feeds them daily for free from breakfast to dinner.
“We are now part of the big majority benefiting from the gold-copper project in the upland village in terms of job employment. My three girls are now employed. Two of them work for DiCorp and one works for the OGPI operations,” Rev. Pastor Efren Bulawan of the Lifeway Bible Church said.
Bulawan is a promining advocate who describes sustainable development in the upland village since the construction phase of the Didipio Operations.
“Everything in this world used by man to live is a mining product. The food that we eat were cultivated and cooked by metal hardware. Our homes, schools, churches where we pray, publications that run newspapers, communication networks, computerized gadgets and transportation vehicles on or above ground are made from mined metals. Our country is said to be rich in mineral resources, but how can we maximize the benefits from them if we keep importing metal products like cars and motorcycles from other countries? If Australia and New Zealand can do it, we can, too,” said a science student who refused to be named.
The mining firm has sent a number of university scholars to college. Some are now professionals connected with the company.
The OceanaGold Sustainable Agroforestry Inc. (OGSAI), the mining firm’s agroforestry arm, has
already reforested over 1,300 hectares of land, planted more than 300,000 trees and donated more than 500,000 seedlings in support to the National Greening Program.
“Now that the Didipio Mine is in full-swing, we want to push sustainable environmental compliance with our advance rehabilitation programs and keep OceanaGold institutionalized as a ‘green’ environment-friendly mining company,” OGSAI Chairman Jose Leviste Jr .said.
In a technical services agreement with OGPI as a service provider, OGSAI manages and operates a central nursery for the production of various agroforest tree seedlings needed in the commercial tree plantation and implement reforestation projects of the mining firm.
“For a large-scale mining project, like Didipio Mine, employing a water-treatment plant equipped with clarifying systems is environmentally necessary,” Gozar said.
Low-quality water gets extracted and treated. After the cleaning process, the already-clean water is recycled back to the ecosystem with improved water balance.
“We initiated and constructed the water-treatment plant to have a cleaner water discharge that could exceed compliance-requirement standards prescribed by the Environment Management Bureau,” Gozar said.
The environment department has granted the Didipio project with a wastewater-discharge permit for Tailings Storage Facility.
Gozar added that OceanaGold’s Tailings Storage Facility is cyanide-free, and Didipio ore qualities have high neutralizing capacity preventing acid-mine drainage.
“The mining project runs according to world-class standards and high-tech operations using computer-aided concentrate processing system for precision. We hate to see any margin of error, because we are aware of the punishing consequences the project may suffer. We cannot afford breaking the mining law, because we are conscious that severely violating it would shut down a big-time investment,” Gozar said.
A geologist by profession, Gozar said the project is environmentally compliant and safety conscious in its operations and remains committed to ethical, responsible and sustainable mineral development.
Cagayan Valley Mines and Geosciences Bureau Regional Director Mario Ancheta said his office, which regulates mining projects in the region, keeps a tight watch on the first large-scale mining project in the country granted a Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) contract with the national government during the term of former PresidentFidel V. Ramos.
“We support the ‘airtight mining audit’ ordered by our Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez. Actually, we have been strictly implementing such mining regulations and we would automatically suspend or cancel their permits once mining firms in the region violate the law,” Ancheta said.
Image credits: Leonardo Perante II