• Mercury is not used in the recovery of gold in the Rapu-Rapu Polymetallic Project in Albay. The gold processing plant of Rapu-Rapu uses cyanide, the most preferred chemical reagent by international gold mining companies, to recover gold from mineral ores.

• The major natural sources of mercury are emissions from volcanoes, and evaporation from natural bodies of water. Albay Gulf is prone to mercury contamination owing to its proximity to active volcanoes like Mayon Volcano.

• Naturally-occurring mercury, whether it is mined or not, is slowly being released to the environment and water systems through erosion, volcanic emissions, hot springs and other natural processes.

• Geological studies revealed that there is an identified mercury deposit in Albay. Cinnabar (HgS), the chief mercury mineral, occurs in a wide variety of environment and lithologic units but most preferably in rocks that are porous, fractured, and with sufficient permeability to allow passage of ore solutions or vapors.

• The earth’s crust is also an important source of mercury for bodies of natural water. Some of this mercury is undoubtedly of natural origin, but some may have been deposited from the atmosphere and may, ultimately, have been generated by human activities. Thus it is difficult to assess quantitatively the relative contributions of natural and anthropogenic mercury to run-off from land to natural bodies of water.

• The DENR standards for mercury and other metals are absolute except in areas wherein the normal values are already beyond these standards. In those instances, like in the case of the Rapu-Rapu polymetallic project, the natural values will be considered as the standard for that particular area as indicated in their Environmental Compliance Certificate. Any scientific analysis should consider the natural values or baseline data for that particular area before concluding that the levels exceed DENR standards.

• The presence of heavy metals such as cadmium, chromium, lead, arsenic and mercury from the sediment samples analyzed by the Environmental Engineering Department of the UP College of Engineering is to be expected because the project area inherently contains these metals. Gold and copper deposits are usually associated with the abovementioned metals. The unusual high levels of these metals indicate the economic viability of opening up a mine. The study only pointed to the “acidity and presence” of so-called “toxic heavy metals” but did not qualify whether the levels are beyond toxicity levels.

• The DENR is continuously collecting water samples from the project site and affected water bodies but there is no sufficient evidence to attribute mercury contamination to the operations of the Rapu-Rapu mine.

Antonio N. Apostol, Jr.
Chief, Lands Geology Survey Division
DENR-MGB
Tel. No. 928-8544

February 3, 2006