A mining opportunity

Several weeks ago, me and my team were investigating the possibilities of a business tie-up with a group of small-scale miners who needed financing for their "hole". It is said that this hole had gold and silver deposits and that many have profited from this venture since the 1990s when the mining area was commissioned.

This group had all the papers necessary to make the operations legal. My excitement was through the roof and I eventually saw a worthwhile opportunity. This community was known to have a rich quality kind of Gold, even 24 Karats and I was determined to do my due diligence before jumping into the band wagon.

The small miners wanted financing on equipment, operational cost and such. The amount was not that huge but I was concerned on the legitimacy of the operations. It also required the investor to build a small ball mill so as to create a small pre-processing plant for the metals.

Upon further investigation, one of my team members interviewed a miner who did some good mining over the area several years ago and who had made a fortune doing it. We inquired as to the nature of the operations in that mining field and asked him why he ceased his financing operations in the area.

His comment startled me, "The abanteros are a bunch of thieves!" He further commented that the area never bloomed because of the miners taking on personal gain through greed and as to not having a 'cooperative' spirit. "They would use various strategies just to get ahead of the financiers by stealing the ores themselves."

I often wondered how these small miners who are in fact furrowing the ground with gold and silver never get ahead in life and remain poor. The answer remains in a very poor mindset which is clouted by greed, indifference and temporary pleasures.

With the mere dysfunctional use of the word "integrity", my team and I understood that these were dangerous waters to invest in.

MINERAL DEPOSITS TO SAVE PHILIPPINES FROM GLOBAL CRISIS:MINISTER

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Feb 06, 2009 (AsiaPulse via COMTEX) -- The Philippine's mineral deposits and other natural resources will save the country from the impact of the world economic crisis.

Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Jose "Lito" Atienza said the riches must be utilized in a sustainable way.

"Our task is really managing our natural wealth because it will provide opportunities to each and every Filipino."

He said Palawan was blessed, and apart from its natural tourist spot wonders the province also has rich deposits of minerals.

Actual mining and exploratory operations are ongoing for nickel, mercury (the biggest deposit in South East Asia), chromite, manganese, barite, feldspar, silica, guano, limestone, and marble.

There are also new discoveries of copper, gold, iron, asbestos, talc, quartz, clay and sulphur.

In the northeast of the province offshore there is oil and gas.

The island province likewise has a large deposit of nickel ore totalling about 414 million tons.

The largest nickel ore deposit is found in Barangay Berong, Quezon in southern Palawan.

Geologists from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) estimate that nine million hectares in the country have high potential for copper, gold, nickel and chromite, which may amount to millions metric tons of mineral deposits which could fetch millions of dollars in the world market.

MGB data shows that the country contains an estimated 83 billion metric tons of mineral ore deposits.

These deposits include more than 14 billion metric tons of metallic ore and more than 69 billion metric tons of non-metallic ore that can be found more abundant in the Sierra Madre mountain range in Luzon and in the Mindanao region.

*It can really save the Philippines from the global financial crisis if it manages it responsibly, but with the bureaucrats and corrupt politicians, this bounty will go to a select few only.