THE United Kingdom-based metals exploration subsidiary FCF Minerals Corp. has planted more than 862 hectares as against the total of 276.33 hectares of disturbed area in Quezon town, Nueva Vizcaya, in compliance with its Mining Forest Program (MFP). The reforestation is also in preparation for the completion of its Runruno Gold-Molybdenum Project, located in the Runruno village in the province, in 2027.
According to Lorne Harvey, FCF Minerals general manager for operation, to date, “In the compliance obligation of two hectares replacement for every hectare of area disturbed, the company is 156.104 percent compliant.”
The MFP is an initiative that responds to the “Adopt a Tree, Adopt a Mining Forest Movement” launched under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Administrative Order 22 of 1989. The Mines and Geoscience Bureau (MGB) calls for all mining companies in the country to establish mining forest plantations within and outside its financial or technical assistance agreement (FTAA).
Harvey also noted that under the MFP, his company has planted more than 4 million trees, more than 1.49 million seedlings and another 755,558 seedlings under the earth-balling permit or STCEP replacement program. Donations to communities included the abovementioned 4 million trees; 1.51 million seedlings under the national greening program; and 237,751 seedlings under the greenhouse gas offsetting program.
Also under the MFP Incentive Awarding, a total of 496 beneficiaries or surface owners within and outside the company’s FTAA have been part of the various reforestation programs being implemented by FCF Minerals. For three consecutive years, the company has awarded financial incentives to these surface owners for the care, maintenance and protection of the established plantations.
FCF Minerals also maintains a central “clonal nursery” with a capacity to produce up to 300,000 planting stocks for fast-growing, native, endemic and fruit-bearing species. Harvey described its aim: “to produce genetically superior indigenous and endemic forest tree seedlings through macrosomatic clonal propagation technology.”
Land rehabilitation
The company’s bamboo propagation and plantation establishment complies with the DENR-MGB memorandum order dated June 11, 2020, which requires mining companies to establish plantations. “To date, the established bamboo plantation is 69.23 hectares and propagated species such as bayog, giant bamboo, kawayang-tinik, kawayang-kiling and buho,” Harvey said.
The vermicomposting program addresses the management of biodegradable waste by producing high-quality soil amendments to be used in the production of high-quality planting materials.
One company innovation, fermented plant juices, are an alternative to inorganic fertilizers and are used as growth enhancers and pesticides for seedlings. They provide more nitrogen to plants for photosynthesis. The company’s mine rehabilitation program involves the restoration of the mined-out and disturbed areas to its intended post-mining land use in consideration of improving its physical, chemical and biological state.
FCF Minerals has about 10 more years to complete its mine rehabilitation after its expected exit in 2027, provided there are no more minerals to extract, according to Leopoldo Castro, government and external relations manager.
Castro, who leads the planning, implementation and monitoring of the environmental enhancement programs noted that more than 56 hectares of disturbed areas had been rehabilitated to date.
One effective vegetation approach, the Dayami Application, uses the rice straw or dayami as an alternative to the coco mat for slope stabilization. “The rice straw also… regulates the moisture and temperature in the soil favorable for seeding growth and as soil amelioration when it decomposes,” he said.
Castro described hydroseeding technology, a low-cost approach in mine rehabilitation, as a new way of planting that uses a slurry of seed and mulch. He said this technology, as an alternative to the traditional process of broadcasting or sowing dry seed, is often used as an erosion control technique on construction sites. Meanwhile, seed broadcasting or broadcast planting is the method of sowing seeds by scattering them over the surface of the soil.
Castro said, “In our sustained care and maintenance, our rehabilitation personnel ensure the growth and survival rate of planted seedlings.”
