The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Cordillera and the City Mining Regulatory Board (CMRB) probed several adits in Camp 7, Barangay Kias, and Atok Trail during a joint ocular inspection held on October 30.
MGB-Cordillera Director Faye Apil said that the CMRB arranged its inspection after receiving complaints of small-scale mining (SSM) operations in the city amidst the mining ban issued by Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu.
In Sitio Uabac in Camp 7, where adits were operated by individual miners, the regulatory board found improper tailings treatment facilities and waste management in the area. It was also found that, while some mining areas have ceased operations, some continue to dig and take out rocks believed to contain gold.
In Barangay Kias, where 13 adits are operated by the Emerald SSM Multipurpose Cooperative, and Atok Trail, where some of the old adits are located, miners have halted their operations and are awaiting for the board’s green light to continue their operations.
Per MGB record, Camp 7 has been recorded to have a mining area of 4.9 hectares; 4.6 hectares in Kias; and 1.5 hectares in Atok Trail.
After the inspection, the MGB and the CMRB Technical Working Group conducted a dialogue with over a hundred miners in Atok Trail.Findings were to be submitted to Mayor Benjamin Magalong as a basis in re-constituting the regulatory board.
Atty. Leoncio Na-oy, SSM Representative to the CMRB, hoped that guidelines will be crafted to eventually allow mining as a means of livelihood in areas where such activity has been in existence, still, with commitments to responsible and accountable mining.
Apil stated that until the CMRB has not been formally re-constituted, SSM operations will not take place.
The miners requested for a time-frame on when they can resume operations, but Apil said that a lot of issues have to be resolved first, particularly in the re-constitution of the CMRB and if government officials would favor SSM in Baguio.
“We will request the city to provide additional TWG members and for them to validate the result of our ocular inspection. There is also a need to determine if existing mining areas are suitable as residential or if SSM activities may be allowed. If we cannot use these lands for residential, then we might as well use it for mining,” Apil was quoted as saying in a report.
Atok Trail Punong Barangay Federico Codley said that before the DENR stopped mining operations, they used to implement mining tourism activities in the province. Codley narrated that they bring students to existing mine sites and let them experience the actual process of mining,
The CMRB hoped to be able to submit their report before the end of November and seek an audience with the mayor and the city council before December 15.
Meanwhile, CMRB Non-Government Organization Representative Julie Cabato also requested the miners to prepare their hazard maps and to complete their documents for permit processing.
