Philippine mining reforms ignored at gold-rush site

The government's small-scale mining provisions were originally intended to give poor, mainly rural people a chance to earn a little money, according to the head of the government's Mines and Geosciences Bureau, Leo Jasareno
But it has been widely exploited and most of the small-scale miners today, including those in Mount Diwata, violate the conditions for small-scale mining by using explosives and poisonous chemicals such as mercury, Jasareno said. Jasareno estimated that there may be as many as 300,000 such small-scale miners across the country, creating a major environmental problem.
http://phys.org/news/2012-08-philippine-reforms-gold-rush-site.html