Guv, mayor act to avert "gold rush"

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines – Government officials have suspended illegal quarrying operations to deter a possible “gold rush” at sitio Catipon of Barangay Bonawon in Siaton, Negros Oriental where traces of raw gold have been reportedly extracted by small-scale miners.

Governor Roel Degamo and Siaton Mayor Albert Ator announced the suspension of illegal quarrying operations in that area, which may attract enterprising people out of the precious metal, and to prevent the loss of lives similar to the January mining disaster in Compostela Valley, and lately in Camarines Norte.

Manual extraction of raw gold in its nearly pure form, including dust, nuggets and those encased in small rocks have been reportedly ongoing unnoticed for an indeterminate period at Catipon.

Ator and other officials, after receiving reports of gold mining activity in Catipon, went to the site with policemen and engineering personnel and the media for an inspection.

Some people there showed the mayor “evidences” of the gold dust and nuggets they purportedly extracted from the mountainsides and nearby stream bed.

A large chunk of the mountainside had been quarried, with residents and individual small-scale miners explaining the simple technique in extracting gold. A group excavates sand and gravel from the top of the mountain slope and brings them down to a nearby stream where the gold is being separated via panning or sifting.

The slope, estimated to be around 70-degree incline, is situated 30 meters from a nearby stream. Already, makeshift tunnels with bamboo poles used as support structure were noted by government officials.

Accessing the quarry area requires about five-to-seven-kilometer walk from the national highway in Bonawon. Unverified reports said at least two people are claiming ownership of the land on the mountain slope but their identities have yet to be established.

Siaton Councilor Salome Lagos, chair of the environment committee, said that a geo-hazard map of the Mines and Geo-Sciences showed that an adjacent area of Catipon, the village of Nasig-id, has been declared high-risk danger zone and landslide-prone area. Residents of Nasig-id were even relocated already, she said.

Lagos also planned to meet with the town’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council for an assessment of the current status at the quarry site in Catipon. She further proposed inviting Bonawon acting village chief Pablo Teves to the council’s regular session on Monday to shed light on the gold mining activity.

Further inspection by the mayor showed that most of the small-scale miners are very poor and dependent on income derived from selling the raw gold to a buyer in Dumaguete City. The miners said the gold, believed to be 24-carat, is bought from them between P1,500 to P1,800 per gram.

Gold extraction in the area, however, is not regular, according to them, adding that they organized themselves into two groups, carrying out gold-panning activities on alternate days.

The present situation is a peaceful, free-for-all gold panning at Catipon but officials are already anticipating a rush of visitors coming to the area to search for gold.

Ator has scheduled a meeting next week with the small-scale miners, ownership claimants of the quarry site and government officials to have a peaceful resolution of the gold extraction activities at Catipon. - THE FREEMAN