July 5, 2007 – Panama

These series of actions take into account all the environmental impact that come with mining activities, as they include measures such as re-vegetation, erosion control and stability of cut slopes and fills; a program to buy seedlings for the communities within the area influenced by the project, which will provide resources for planting; sedimentation prevention and mitigation in surface water sources, proper handling of fuel; occupational and environmental safety and hygiene; sedimentation and erosion control in the plant’s area; environmental training and consultancy; constant conservation and pollution prevention, in addition to measures aimed at preserving wildlife native to the area. In this case, the extraction of gold ore will occupy up to 100 hectares during a maximum of 12 years. The company, on its own initiative, has chosen to take ecological mitigation measures by planting three times as many trees felled, well above what is required by law.

 

Even before EIA approval, Petaquilla has developed prevention and environmental mitigation measures stipulated by national and international law and Law-Contract 9, of February 26, 1997.

 

These measures complement:

• Road repairs in Coclesito and Villa Del Carmen (category I)
• Nazareth Road – Molejón (category II)
• Gold Project – Molejón (category III)

To a greater or lesser degree, depending on the category, these EIAs include activities:

In the Llano Grande – Molejón road project

-          Re-vegetation, erosion control and slope cut and fill stabilization.

-          Seedlings purchase program for the communities within the project’s area of influence, providing resources for planting.

-          Creation of forest tree nurseries for re-vegetation (Villa del Carmen, Las Ceibas, Los Tablones and Molejón) where native species such as Bateo, María, Guachapalí, Guaraguao, etc. are produced.

-          Placement of synthetic mesh (bales of grass) and gabion structures (embankment collapse) for sedimentation prevention and mitigation of surface water sources (streams and rivers).

-          Support for community ecotourism project in Copé, Omar Torrijos National Park.

 

In the plant’s camps and areas. Molejón mining project (plant, camp, gash, tailings, ponds, and other).

-          Adequate handling of fuel: occupational and environmental security and health.

-          Re-vegetation and erosion and sedimentation control in the plant’s area

-          Re-vegetation and reforestation of cut slopes and fills on access roads within the plant’s area.

-          Environmental drilling control in the project area; all contractors have environmental protocols.

 

• Environmental monitoring

-          Surface sources flow measurement in the project road and gold project area for which they have placed water meters in different points of the rivers.

-          Water quality control, for which the company purchased a water quality sensor to track factors like pH, turbidity, temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, and surface waters within the project area.

-          Precipitation measurement through electronic gauges.

-          Air quality sampling.

 

Environmental conservation policy has meant a payout of $500,000 until December 2007, and $200,000 so far this year.

 

The company has a Department of Environment and Hydrology, responsible for the implementation of these measures. Under its direction the company trains and advises through a “green brigades” program of environmental scholarships to employees of different neighboring districts on issues of environment, preservation and conservation against pollution in line with Petaquilla environmental programs and studies made by the company in its camps.

The training program also extends to other communities, addressing issues related to techniques regarding production and cleaning processes and soil conservation, so that with this knowledge the preservation of the environment is sought, both by the company itself and by communities in their own economic activities such as subsistence farming and ranching, of large environmental impact today.

To date, Minera Petaquilla has trained about 400 residents from Coclesito, Cascajal and Los Molejones.

The program also approaches schools (46 in the district of Donoso), high school educators, community leaders from more remote areas, and the Pro-Mine Committee.

In addition, Petaquilla has submitted to the ANAM an additional proposal to its reforestation commitment, designed to cushion the impact of extensive livestock feed and protect the Omar Torrijos Herrera National Park’s forest.

Related posts:

1. Petaquilla Meets Panamanian Environmental Standards
2. Petaquilla Mining brings to Panama a model of sustainable mining
3. Myths and truths of mining on TV
4. Starting to see the fruits
5. Engineer Lazaro Rodriguez