Apex mining unit partners with Benguet small-scale miners

MANILA, Philippines — A subsidiary of Apex Mining Co. Inc. is set to roll out its Big Brother Small Brother program (BBSP) to support the livelihood of some small scale miners in Benguet.

The company said its subsidiary Itogon-Suyoc Resources, Inc (ISRI) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Dalicno Small Scale Miners Association (DaSSMA) for the BBSB program.

Under the BBSB, DaSSMA will mine in designated areas within ISRI’s tenements, with its members also undergoing ISRI’s standard miners underground orientation, including safety, security and ISO compliance.

Apex Mining said the BBSB provides an economic lifeline to pocket miners who have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It is in the DNA of the Apex group of companies to work harmoniously with our host communities,” Apex Mining president and chief executive officer Luis Sarmiento said.

Apex Mining said among the advantages of the BBSB approach include a safer operating environment for the small-scale miners, minimal displacement of people and livelihood, promotion of environmental protection and proper accounting of production and collection of taxes.

“Illegal small-scale mining has been a sad reality in many gold mining districts in the country. With limited choices for income-generation, many in the rural areas that host mining activities resort to living dangerously inside underground, cramped, unsupported dog-hole tunnels to mine gold ore,” the company said.

What was even more alarming was that the unregulated processing plants used by the small-scale mining operators have been causing serious environmental damage, Apex Mining said.

The BBSB has been successfully implemented in the company’s Maco mine operations in Davao de Oro.