In a bid to address the health risks faced by artisanal and small-scale gold miners, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) launched the first-ever mercury-free gold processing common service facility (CSF) in Iligan City, Northern Mindanao.
According to a Manila Bulletin report, the pilot plant, designed to be able to process three tonnes of run-of-mine gold ore for eight hours per day, was developed by a team of engineers from Iligan Institute of Technology of the Mindanao State University (MSU-IIT) to not only have safe, environment-friendly, and high-yielding methods of extracting gold but to also address environmental issues caused by improper waste disposal by small-scale gold miners who use mercury and cyanide in retrieving gold.
“Small-scale miners, the industry that contributes up to 75 percent of the country’s gold production, face threats with their exposure to mercury and cyanide,” DOST Secretary Fortunato de la Peña was quoted as saying in the report.
However, while this innovation will significantly improve the mining operations in Iligan, mining firms in the eastern part of Mindanao are faced with the challenge of having probable mining areas overlapping with mature forests with high habitat suitability, considered primary high conservation value areas for selected forest-dependent plants and animals.
