Didipio mine is a large

open-pit Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique that extracts rock (geology), rock or minerals from the earth. Open-pit mines are used when deposits of commercially ...

and underground

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

and

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

mine located at

Kasibu Kasibu, officially the Municipality of Kasibu (; ; ), is a municipality in the province of Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 41,776 people. ''Kasibu'' in the Ilongot language means, "a venue where ...

Nueva Vizcaya Nueva Vizcaya, officially the Province of Nueva Vizcaya (; ; Pangasinan: ''Luyag/Probinsia na Nueva Vizcaya''; ), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Cagayan Valley region in Luzon. Its capital and largest town is Bayo ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. The mine is operated by the

OceanaGold OceanaGold Corporation (OceanaGold), previously named Macraes Mining Company and then GRD Macraes, is a gold mining and exploration company based in Vancouver, Canada and Brisbane, Australia OceanaGold operates the Haile Gold Mine in the United ...

History

The mine was permitted to operate for 25 years under a Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) with the government in June 1994. The permit was controversially renewed on 2019 for another 25 years, the operation was halted for two years after disputes with the local government but later resumed its operation in July 2021.

Operation

Didipio mine is operated by

Philippines Inc., a subsidiary of

. The mine is both an

open-pit mine Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique that extracts rock or minerals from the earth. Open-pit mines are used when deposits of commercially useful ore or ...

and an

underground mine Mining is the extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agricultural processes, or feasibly created artificially in a la ...

. In 2023, the mine produces of copper and of gold.

Criticism

Various indigenous (

Bugkalot The Bugkalot (also Ilongot or Ibilao) are an indigenous peoples inhabiting the southern Sierra Madre and Caraballo Mountains, on the east side of Luzon in the Philippines, primarily in the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya and Nueva Ecija and along t ...

, Tuwali), environmentalist and religious ( CBCP) groups has demanded to cancel the mining permit of the mine due to environmental concern and alleged human rights issues. In 2007 and 2008, the mine was ordered closed by then-governor

Luisa Cuaresma Luisa "Banti" Lloren Cuaresma (born January 18, 1955) is a Filipina politician who currently serves as the representative of the lone district of Nueva Vizcaya since 2016. Previously, she served as governor of Nueva Vizcaya from 2004 until 201 ...

, leading to charges being filed against her and other officials of the Nueva Vizcaya provincial government. In 2019, the mine's operation was again halted by governor Carlos Padilla even after the approval of the

Department of Environment and Natural Resources The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR; ) is the Executive Departments of the Philippines, executive department of the Philippine government responsible for the conservation, management, development, and proper use of the cou ...

. In July 2021, the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC) and other environmentalist groups denounced the renewal of the mine's operations citing that " tflies in the face of the will of the local government and groups of Tuwali indigenous people.” and adding that it disrupts agricultural livelihoods, and contributing to the air and water pollution to area.

References

{{Mines in the Philippines Copper mines in the Philippines Geography of Nueva Vizcaya Gold mines in the Philippines