Wednesday, March 12, 2008 Osmeña: Environmental economics of mining By Antonio V. Osmeña Estatements
SOME sectors have charged industrialized nations for exploiting less developed countries, like the Philippines, by controlling international trade so that smaller economies are forced to sell their resources at a price far below their value. In effect, the highly developed countries are accused of stripping the world of its fossil fuel and other non-renewable mineral resources, like copper, without sufficient regard for the future needs of the smaller economies.
How valid are these charges of resource exploitation by highly developed countries?
The mining sector in Cebu is lucky because there is no immediate pressure from environmentalists to include the cost of environmental protection in their operations. Copper mined in the United States is now more expensive because mining companies have included the cost of environmental protection in the computation, whereas imported copper seldom does.
Analysts point out that the charges of exploitation overlook the fact that, with a few important exceptions, most of the world’s non-fuel mineral resource supplies are found in the most developed countries–the Soviet Union, United States, Canada, Australia and South Africa–which supply the world with most of the 20 minerals that make up 98 percent of the total value of all minerals consumed in the world. The major exceptions include copper in Southeast Asia, aluminum ore (bauxite) in the Caribbean, and cobalt in Zaire.
Others argue that government leaders and rich elites in most less developed countries are really exploiting their own people.
In Toledo City, Cebu, copper ore must be extracted normally by surface mining or subsurface mining. After the metal ore has been mined, physical processes, such as crushing and washing, are used to remove impurities and obtain the ore in concentrated form.
Many environmentalists are concerned with the washing of the crushed copper ore. They want to make sure that the waste tailings that can pollute water sources are properly disposed of. The Tañon Strait used to be the favorite dumping area of wastes tailings of Atlas Mining Copper Corporation in Toledo City.
The mining, processing and use of any energy or non-fuel mineral resources cause some form of land disturbance, along with air and water pollution. Most land disturbed by mining can be reclaimed to some degree, and some forms of air and water pollution can be controlled. But these efforts are expensive and also require energy that, when produced and used, also produces pollution.
For each unit of mineral produced, subsurface mining disturbs less than one-tenth as much land as surface mining. It also generally produces less wastes than surface mining. But rainwater seeping through surface wastes or spoils causes chemical reaction that produce sulfuric acid. This acid can run off into nearby rivers and streams, contaminating water supplies and killing aquatic life.
Although subsurface mining normally causes less environmental disturbance than surface mining, it is usually more dangerous and more expensive.
