After Canatuan mine tour
Bayog Delegation – 57 strong – arrive at Canatuan
SIOCON, ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE (17 Nov. 2005) — A delegation of 57 government officials from Bayog, Zamboanga del Sur today expressed confidence on the operations of TVI Resource Development (Phils.) Inc. (TVIRD), calling the company environmentally responsible and allaying concerns on the possible entry of TVI in their municipality.
Following a tour of the company’s mine, ball mill and tailings dam sites in Mt. Canatuan, Bayog Mayor Mary Ann Cartalla said that seeing TVI’s operations “had opened our eyes on the value of responsible mining.” She noted that, by TVI’s example, environmental impact can be manageable and sustainable development for the community of indigenous people (IP) is achievable.
The delegation witnessed ongoing operations from open pit mining, crushing, smelting to tailings impoundment. Noting the controlled use of chemicals in the production process, they learned that, unlike small-scale mining operations prevalent in Bayog, mercury is not used at the Canatuan mine. The group saw the company’s environmental management systems and initiatives to ensure the preservation of the soils and water as well as the restoration of forest denuded by years of slash-and-burn farming.
Further, the group also took time to appreciate the sustainable development programs in place in the IP community of the Subanons: expanded school buildings and well equipped classrooms and day care centers, a clinic manned by medical professionals and a settlement site for the IP families. The delegation discovered that while 60% of Canatuan’s 650 employees are IP men, the Subanon women were trained on upland rice farming and gained substantially from the one hectare that each one had received for rice and vegetable production.
“Now I have seen that all the talk on the negative aspects of mining in general and TVI, in particular, are false,” said a barrio captain from the group. “Our negative perception about mining is now erased,” he added in Visayan, the local dialect.Mayor Cartalla called on her colleagues, which included representatives from the regional office of the Department of Environment and Resources (DENR), to “take the initiative and invite people to see how professional and responsible mining can work and how it adds value not only to the economy but to the localities where it operates.”
Prior to the Canatuan visit, Mayor Cartalla had called for a multi-sectoral meeting on mining on December 7 in Bayog. The meeting is expected to gather representatives from mining companies, regulating agencies, as well as non-government organizations.