In Cordillera, small mines are good examples

BAGUIO CITY—In some small-scale mine sites run by indigenous peoples’ in the Cordillera, gold is regarded as a common resource of a tribal group and tribe members regard themselves as stewards.

As stewards, tribe members are expected to extract gold with utmost responsibility, which is far different from the gold rush mind-set of small-scale miners in Compostela Valley and other areas around the country.

For example, in the two neighboring villages of Alab and Tumayan in Bontoc, Mt. Province, mineral resources are regarded as property of the tribe so nontribe members are barred from operating usok (small mine tunnels).

“This facilitates enforcement of tribal policy,” said a recent study by Apit Tako, a Baguio-based independent research group.

Since no mine is an exclusive property of any individual or family, all mine operation is a tribal proposition and subject to the rules of the tribe’s small-scale mining association, said the study.

Tribes in Alab and Tumayan ban mining in watersheds, whether these are in the tayan (family and clan-maintained woodlot) or in the tribes’ communal forests.

No timber has been used for shoring up tunnels in Alab and Tumayan. “But once this becomes necessary, timber must be harvested by miners only from their lineage group’s woodlot,” said the study. “This makes it easier to ensure that trees are replanted.”

Ore mills depend on plenty of water. But in Alab and Tumayan, the tribe members have ensured that water needs of the mills do not compete with irrigation needs.

There are 21 usok in two villages and 21 ore mills, including the small-scale mining association’s ball mill.

During the dry season, only the association’s ball mill operates, said the study.

The upland villages have continued to cultivate traditional rice varieties in age-old rice terraces.

“Because small-scale mining is not continuous but balanced against agricultural chores, production is low, averaging 25 kilograms of ore per tunnel per day or 520 kg from all 21 tunnels,” said the study.

Gold recovery is estimated at only 30 to 40 percent. Yet the yield, said the study, is fairly high, averaging a gram of gold recovered from every 25 kg of ore. The gold content averages 18 carats.

Gold was discovered in Pidlisan village in Sagada, Mt. Province, in 1974.

But the villagers did not rush to mine as it was found within a papatayan, a sacred grove atop a mountain overlooking the village, said the study.

Mining started only in the 1980s when gold was found on the lower slopes, below the sacred grove.