Out of sight, out of mined from Oxfam Australia on Vimeo.
Some years ago, I was invited by MACEC (Marinduque Council for Environmental Concerns), to watch this documentary on the problems caused by the Marcopper mine tailings spill that happened 15 years ago today. The film was first screened in Australia to mark the start of the APEC Mining Ministerial in Perth in 2007. Produced by Oxfam Australia, the documentary entitled "Out of Sight, Out of Mined", and apparently referred to how the mining company suddenly packed up and abandoned the mines, their responsibilities to the people of Marinduque and rehabilitation issues resulting from the disaster.
Looking further back...
It was the American Exploration and Mining Company, a subsidiary of Placer Development Limited of Vancouver, Canada which optioned the property in 1956, after recognizing the potential for a porphyry copper type orebody.
Exploration was done during the period 1957-1964, and geological mappings, diamond drillings, and finally surface and underground diamond drillings were done. In 1960, an agreement was made with Nippon Mining Company wherein Nippon would do the tunneling and drilling in return for a long-term sales contract when the property started production.
Tunneling and drilling were done by contract crews from Surigao Consolidated Mining sent by Nippon in 1960, until Pamex Mining Company, under a contract with Bezotte Drilling Company, took over the work from 1962 to 1964. A total of 141 holes were drilled with an aggregate driven length of 16,850 meters and 6,400 meters of underground drifts, cross cuts and raises. From this, an orebody of 86 million tons of sulfide ore containing 600,000 tons of copper was established.
It was to be the Tapian open pit porphyry copper mine located near the geographic center of the island of Marinduque. It was only in January 1968 when the big push to get the mine into production started. In the middle of 1968, an all-weather road was built linking the port of Balogo, where a dock was constructed, with the minesite. Excavation for the mill and other plant buildings was also started.
By mid-October 1969, enough ore was exposed in the pit to sustain the 15,000 tons per day milling operation, and Marcopper Mining Corporation was born.
In November 1969, the initial shipment of 3,170.5 tons of copper concentrate was dispatched to Nippon Mining Company, Ltd. In Japan. Other shipments were later made to Korea, Taiwan, People’s Republic of China, Germany and the Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corporation (PASAR) in Leyte.
The original plan was to have an 18,000 tons per day milling capacity. After only five years of production, it was expanded to 30,000 tons per day. After almost 22 years of operation of Mt. Tapian, Marcopper produced 779.6 million kilograms of copper metal, 23.9 million grams of gold and 127.9 million grams of silver. At the eventual closure of Tapian in 1990, the San Antonio project was commenced.
The San Antonio copper orebody lies some three kilometers north of the Tapian mining complex. It has an estimated mineable reserves of 198 million tons of copper ore with an average grade of 0.44% Cu – equivalent to a potential 20-year mining life.
Actual construction of the San Antonio Project’s major facilities commenced in 1991. Management negotiated for a USD 40-million long-term facility needed to finance the project. Construction progressed despite delays in late deliveries, foundation modifications, heavy rains and labor problems.
With the accidental spillage of mine tailing from the old Tapian pit into the Boac River, the worst environmental disaster in the country’s history, the operation of Marcopper was closed down in 1996. A string of environmental issues that includes the threat of new dam collapse and health related problems in the affected communities remain unresolved to this day.
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