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Friday, March 29, 2024

Benguet bullish on mining audit

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Benguet Corp., the parent company of Benguetcorp Nickel Mines Inc., said it is optimistic the audit findings on its nickel operations in Sta. Cruz, Zambales will validate that it has been operating as a responsible mining company in the province.

This followed the recently concluded Mining Philippines 2016 where geologist Carlo Arcilla identified deforestation as the main culprit causing siltation in Zambales.

According to the seasoned geologist, the only scientific study on siltation in Zambales was done by the University of the Philippines-National Institute of Geological Sciences. 

Findings from BNMI’s copy of the study showed that much of the siltation during the rainy season is caused by the natural erosion characteristic of the land formations in the province, particularly highly erodible banks, run-offs from agricultural areas and reworking of existing deposited sediments, mostly downstream, and that mining activities contribute a negligible 6 percent to 9 percent siltation in the river systems.

“Many times mining has been the whipping boy of many things. Mining is an ugly business but it is not necessarily a harmful business,” Arcilla said.

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“I challenge anybody to come up with a deterministic, more accurate study than what we have done for more than a year,” Arcilla said, as he blasted the closure of mines in Zambales due to unfounded accusations.

“This should be the basis of whether you close mines or not – Science – not feelings,” he said.

Benguet Corp. said unit BNMI had conducted dredging activities even outside its MPSA to help prevent sediment movement further downstream.  

Assessment conducted by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Region 3 in October 2015 revealed water parameters remain within safe optimum levels to allow fish and other aquatic resources to thrive in the area.

The assessment also revealed a slight increase in silt depth possibly contributed by domestic activities, river run-offs and natural calamities.

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