“There is a report but it has not yet been released officially… There’s a debate now in Kalinga because of Governor Baac’s order to ban small-scale mining… It’s a drastic step taken by the governor,” De Lima said.
Cleansing Chico River is the mandate of the DENR but the DA needs to be involved because of its impact on 94,000 hectares of farm lands in Kalinga, Alcala said.
Mercury has been used by pocket miners to separate gold from silver but its ecological impact has convinced small-scale mine groups to support the ban on its sale, said Lomino Kaniteng, president of Benguet Federation of Small-Scale Miners.
He said the “ban mercury” campaign has been accelerated this year because high world metals prices have made underground pocket mining very lucrative.
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