MANILA, Philippines – The Mines and Geosciences Bureau supported the earlier findings of local geologists that there is no nickel contamination in the rivers of Zambales.
Geologists said soil erosion, which occurs during heavy rains, caused the color of the Zambales rivers to turn reddish-brown.
They claimed the soil in the mining areas is rich in nickel laterites, which render the area inhabitable by large trees.
Trees are a natural deterrent to soil erosion as they rein in the soil they are planted on. Even without mining, the soil will cascade downstream causing the waters to turn reddish-brown.
This phenomenon has been going for centuries and cannot be attributed to mining, geologists said.
It would be recalled that the operations of LnL Archipelago Minerals Inc., Benguet Corp Nickel Mines Inc. and Eramen Minerals Inc. in the municipalities of Sta. Cruz and Candelaria were shut down as precipitated by the supposed mineral leakage from these companies such that the color of downstream river has turned into reddish-brown.
As a precondition to their re-opening, Zambales Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane and Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon Paje required them to chip in to the cost of building haul roads.
But with the MGB saying there is no nickel contamination of the Zambales rivers, such pre-condition becomes irrelevant, geologists said.
The Philippine mining industry could be the world’s most regulated industry and yet government’s help, if the industry needs it, has been dismal if not utterly disappointing.
Mining firms are left to fend for themselves in cases where they are harassed and given the circuitous rounds by local government units in which they operate or explore for minerals.
The Philippine Mining Act has enough teeth to ensure these mining companies toe the line. But too often, provisions of this law become inferior to the ones enacted by anti-mining LGUs thus, frustrating the industry’s effort to maximize the economic benefits the country could get from the industry.