The Philippines is blessed by large mining deposits brought about by three faults that run through the archipelago from north to south. The Cordillera gold mines boosted the economy of the country in the 1930s up to about 1980. Potential copper mines are all over the Ilocos region. Gold in Mindoro has hardly been touched. That is why the province is called "Mina de Oro." Some mining has been done in the alluvial areas but the mountains from where these nuggets came from have not been touched.

The Bicol region has iron and other base metals especially in the Caramoan peninsula. The eastern fault runs through Surigao down through the Davaos. Here the Surigao nickel ore is high enough grade that it can be sold and shipped without processing. An old miner used to boast that in North Davao mines after a dynamite blast in their tunnel he would gather kilos of pure gold nuggets into his pouch. In this eastern fault lies Diwalwal, the source of most of the commemorative gold coins for Emperor Hirohito celebration in the 1980s.Over the past thirty years an average of 5 kilos of gold per day has been produced by the small miners in Diwalwal. Yet a lot more gold has been identified at a lower level by the government. On the western side through the Zamboangas gold mines are being worked but on a comparatively small scale compared to the potential. The central fault produced the biggest copper mine in the country. There is however a potentially bigger copper and gold mine in the Cotabatos.

The country has hardly any petroleum deposits except to the west of Palawan. Possibly these three faults may have burned away any petroleum deposits that could have existed. They but left us the metal deposits. There is some coal in Zamboanga and in some western islands like Semirara but are rather small deposits and of lower BTU quality. Ceramic clay is found in the Ilocos but the best fine clay is in the border area between Lanao and Bukidnon. Some camote mining is happening with sacks of clay dug and sold giving employment to some poor people. There is no reason why someone does not put up a fine China furnace in the area.

Semi-precious stones are also found in the Pacific coast line of the Surigaos.

Most industrialized countries had their start with exploiting natural resources. England started with its coal in Newcastle; Germany mined iron from the Ruhr valley; the USA exploited its coal in the Midwest and petroleum in Pennsylvania; Japan mined the seas with commercial fishing.

We exploited our forests but threw away their preservation when the government accepted a fee for reforestation but failed to reforest. We still have our metal resources. Mining stopped about 30 years ago with legislation against mining. We finally passed an acceptable mining law which is being questioned by the environmentalists. They want to preserve the environment while our people have no jobs and are going hungry. Some damage will happen with mining but almost anything has damage to the environment.

Just because the pollution from cars is damaging to the environment, does not stop us from using cars and trucks. There must be some reasonable give and take. We cannot eat our cake and have it too. Do we prioritize the start of a vigorous economy that will provide jobs and feed our people or do we prioritize the future environment? There is a cost to development but we cannot allow the present status in which our people have to go abroad to find work resulting in break up of families. It is a question of priorities. Which is more valuable? The present situation is satisfactory to the moneyed but is it for the jobless? We are too small to compete with China's manufacturing.

What we now have are our potential mines and other natural resources like geothermal, hydro, and wind power. <emeterio_barcelon@yahoo.com>