MGB advocates responsible mining

April 15, 2017 Metro BLISTT

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Mines and Geosciences Bureau (DENR-MGB) hosted a conference advocating responsible mining on April 11, 2017 at the DENR-MGB Hall, Baguio City.
Engineer Felizardo A. Gacad, environment and social development division chief of mine safety, served as the speaker for the advocacy on responsible mining He presented videos to show how mining is intertwined with everyday living.
Gacad said they are advocating responsible mining to protect the environment and ensure sustainable development. He introduced the stages of mining which are exploration, development, extraction and processing, and mine closure.
He said each stage has due process and miners should follow these to be dubbed as responsible miners.
“Mining is a serious business, if you (miners) are not serious with the environment and social development might as well not go into business,” Gacad said.
He also iterated that with every mining project, there should be a corresponding social development program that would benefit the community affected.
He ended the conference by reminding that the learnings from the past (disasters on mining) allow us to move forward. Rozienna G. Rosales, UC Intern / ABN