Canatuan mine

Environmental activities at the Canatuan mine include those related to controlling impacts of the operation, and those related to rehabilitating areas that are closed (i.e. In which mining activity ceases – either during the period of the overall mining operation, or at the end of mine life when the operation is permanently closed).

The principal control activities related to the current operation are those of water management (runoff and process water), and water monitoring tailings management (permanent containment of the non-mineral material that is physically separated from the ore in the process plant). During Year 2009, five sediment ponds were maintained within the MPSA. These ponds serve as control strategies to mitigate the impacts of soil erosion and sediment conveyed by surface water runoff to Canatuan Creek and Lumot Creek. This does not include the Sulphide Tailings Impoundment which serves as a large sediment pond to control sediment materials within the Canatuan Creek watershed that are not captured by the smaller sediment ponds. A neutralization pond was also constructed in series with a sediment pond currently maintained downstream of the Nursery Area. This pond serves as a treatment pond during instances when acid mine drainage is observed. These series of ponds drain run off water from the Phase II Mine Area where acid mine drainage is anticipated to occur.

Water quality data is collected by a Multipartite Monitoring Team (MMT) at 14 locations on streams and rivers in and around the project area.[5] Sampling for 2009 reported in the 2010 environmental protection program document indicates the water quality was within required ranges. TVIRD also carries out noise measurement, and air quality sampling both from stack emissions and for ambient air quality.

Canatuan Reforestation Nursery

As with most mining operations, rehabilitation activities are carried out progressively – with activities carried out each year to rehabilitate areas no longer active. These rehabilitation activities include rehabilitation of the small-scale mining areas operated by others prior to the opening of the TVIRD mine.

As of the end of the Year 2009, approximately 39,300 trees were planted within and outside the MPSA. This is 11,000 tree seedlings short of the 55,00 targeted for 2009. In addition to the trees planted, various grasses and shrubs were also planted. Some of the species of trees planted include income-generating species such as rubber trees and mahogany.

In community consultations on closure planning fruit-bearing trees such as marang, lanzones, durian among others were requested. In this regard, an experimental study was initiated to identify the heavy metal absorption potential of certain root crops on tailings surface and later determine whether these root crops are safe for human consumption. The study will further determine the final land use plan of the Tailings impoundment areas.

The Gossan Dam and Impoundment plus the Upper and Lower Tailings Dam Impoundments are no longer used for tailings disposal. Progressive Rehabilitation activities were initiated during the second half of Year 2008 include addition of soil cover material on top of the tailings at the Lower Tailings Dam while waiting for further tailings consolidation. In Year 2010, topsoil cover will be placed on the tailings surface in preparation for planting. Current progressive rehabilitation also includes closure of an overburden stockpile by establishing erosion control, coverage with non-acid drainage (NAG) material, and revegetation; and rehabilitation of parts of the Phase 1 mining area through erosion control, soil conditioning and revegetation.

TVIRD's annual activities include progressive rehabilitation with the primary focus on slope stabilization and erosion control, revegetation and reforestation activities including soil conditioning and sediment control.

Total spending by TVIRD in 2009 on the environmental program was 71,599,512 Php ( approximately US$1.5 million).[6]

One of the principal concerns raised regarding impacts of the mining activities has been complaints from local fishermen about increased sediment in local rivers affecting fish spawning. However, there have been other activities in the area that could also contribute to sediment, and there has not been a clear link established between sediment levels and fish stocks in the area.[7] Both forestry operations and the earlier artisanal mining both removed ground cover and likely increased sediment content in rivers

Canatuan - TVI Built Hospital

The principal community is the local indigenous people, known as the Subanon. The Apu Manglang sub-tribe inhabits the area around the Canatuan mine, and are represented in the ancestral domain claim.

The MPSA held by TVI requires payment of a royalty of 1% of the market value of the minerals produced to the indigenous people who had a valid ancestral domain claim. TVI agreed to pay the royalty to the Siocon Subanon Association Inc. One source of disagreement regarding the mining activity is that the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Claim for the Subanon with respect to the mining area was issued after the MPSA was issued to TVI.

Within the Subanon community there is both support for and opposition to the mine. The relationship between the mining activity and the Subanon community is complicated by the fact that the Siocon Subanon Association Inc. is not a traditional Subanon political structure, and its leader is not of a lineage that would traditionally be allowed a leadership position in the community, and therefore there is dispute over the ability of the Association to make agreements. Similarly, TVI's agreement gives status to a Council of Elders, initially formed in 2002 at the instigation of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, but whose legitimacy is rejected by the traditional leadership group of the Subanon, the Gukom. The Gukom is not a permanent body, but is a gathering of the leaders of local territories.

An additional complication is that the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Claim was awarded a named group of Subanon individuals, not to a representative organization. The 2007 Rights & Democracy report states that, subsequent to the agreements, The Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines investigated the matter of consent and concluded that the company had not obtained true prior consent from the indigenous people for the mine (the source referenced for this statement is unpublished and has not been confirmed).

A second community in the mining area is that of small scale and artisanal miners. As of 2007, eight thousand small scale miners had started activity in the area and worked without official permits.[8] Although some of these miners are Subanon, many of them are not and only arrived in the area since the 1990s when the mineral deposit was discovered. Canatuan became the haven for migrant small-scale miners who armed themselves to maintain control over their interests. As the SSM community flourished, Subanon control of Canatuan diminished. Once established, these miners also became concerned that TVI activities could force them out of the area.

The introduction of Small Scale Mining (SSM) also introduced the Subanons to the cash economy. Migrants operated SSM in the area, which displaced the Subanons. Many Subanons worked for the SSM operators (typically for low wages with very poor working conditions); some of them became small SSM operators themselves. A few of the formal and informal leaders of the tribe greatly benefited from the SSM as the migrant mine operators ingratiated themselves to the leaders.

When TVIRD started to operate in Canatuan, the company implemented a “settlement program” for those who were to be affected by the company's activities for reasons of safety or displacement due to mining activities. This program had to address three different groups of residents: Subanon from the Apu Manglang sub-tribe local to the Canatuan mining area (local IP's/owners of the ancestral lands); Subanon originally from tribes distant from the Canatuan mining area (migrant IP's), and non-Subanon that migrated to the area for the SSM activity (non-IP migrants).

The settlement program involved a compensation package for migrants both indigenous and non-indigenous. The Subanon (indigenous) leadership was not amenable to a relocation program within the ancestral domain for the migrants. The compensation package – 8 to 12 times higher than those prescribed by the provincial ordinance governing real properties – was meant to provide the families a good opportunity to earn a decent and lawful living and have a fresh start outside Canatuan. The settlement program for SSM IPs who are considered owners of the ancestral domain was of two types. Some of them opted for a smaller multiplier but with a housing package, while others chose to be paid an amount similar to those received by migrant SSMs.

In the early years of TVIRD in Canatuan, the company had to contend with various layers of conflicts. Large-scale mining, after many years of practically being dormant, was being “reintroduced” by the Philippine government and being put forward as an industry that can be an engine of economic growth. This reintroduction created friction between large-scale mining companies and SSM interests. The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) that finally recognized that IPs have the right over their ancestral domains was still new then, and vested interest groups were being affected. The IPs had to familiarize themselves with their “new found” rights under IPRA. Meanwhile, local government units were fighting with the national government over the sharing of benefits over the latter's minerals development program. Communities then were not as familiar as they are now with large-scale mining operations. Consequently, civil society organizations and church groups took it upon themselves to raise emerging issues generated by the evolving, often confusing, milieu.

One source of controversy is the view held by some that the Subanon of the southern peninsula consider Mount Canatuan to be a sacred place. The peak of Mount Canatuan, according to some of the Subanon was not for occupation, flamboyant use, or architectural manifestations. However, there are different views within community regarding the accuracy and interpretation of this designation.[9]

In May 2007, Rights & Democracy (R&D) issued a report titled “Mining a Sacred Mountain: Protecting the human rights of indigenous communities Environmental Management” which was critical of a number of aspects of the impact of the mine and actions of TVI, but also noting a history of conflict between groups in the area that preceded the TVI's presence in the region. The principal findings of the report were that the TVI operation created some jobs in an impoverished area and generated revenues for the indebted national government. However, that it also displaced many families; divided the local indigenous people; deprived thousands of small-scale miners of their livelihood; negatively affected rice farmers and fishers living downstream; and that it is located on the peak of Mount Canatuan, which the Subanon living in the area consider to be sacred. The report made recommendations for action both by the Philippine Government and TVI - including that the mining operation be halted until an independent monitoring procedure is in place.

TVI expressed disappointment with the report, noting that the 3rd parties engaged by R&D to carry out the research and report writing were well known opponents of mining in the Philippines. TVI objected that the report provides no information on the positive benefits of the mining operation, and that “We expect it is more than simple coincidence that the conclusions and recommendations set out in the Philippines Case Study coincide with positions advocated by members of the "research team" over the past decade".[10] TVI offered clarifying information in a separate document detailing specific biases and inaccuracies in the R&D report.[7]

An alternate view of the situation of the local population was also painted in a 2005 letter[9] from TIMUAY JUANITO TUMANGKIS, President of the Siocon Subano Association Inc. and Chairman of the 30 member Council of Elders of the Subanons of Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte. Among others, the six page "open" letter is addressed to Christian Aid, MiningWatch Canada, the DIOPIM Committee on Mining Issues (DCMI), Tebtebba, KAIROS, Survival International, "LRC-KSK" (the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Kasama sa Kilikasan/Friends of the Earth Philippines). In the letter he states the case that:

• The Subanons desire "the development of their ancestral domain, employment and freedom from poverty, ..."
• They are working in a partnership with TVI, with specific conditions that have been agreed to by TVI, and that there right to Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) has not been violated.
• The TVI MPSA area does not embrace any of the sacred places claimed by the Subanon
• The artisanal mining activities caused pollution, employed child labour, and were often not Subanon - and they do not want to go back to the days of the artisanal mining operations
• Many of those who speak out against the TVI operation are not Subanon, and at least some have commercial interests in the artisanal mining activities that were not properly permitted and did not receive "Free and Prior Informed Consent" from the Subanon community
• In essence, the wrong involvement by external NGO's inhibits the local Subanon's right to self-government.