Mining as a Profession and Calling

Robert Frost once said in his poem entitled, “The Road not taken”, and I quote:

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

This poem is not typical to the Filipino students of today.

They choose a college education based on what their parents want. Sometimes, their choice is based on what their high schoolmates; their friends or their neighbours’ sons and daughters have chose to enrol in college.

In other words, they tend to “go with the flow”. They just don’t seem to have the courage and boldness to take the road less travelled and risk their necks out.

Thus they end up among the thousands upon thousands of “run of the mill” graduates year upon year, with very little opportunities for domestic or overseas employment simply because of excess supply chasing limited employment slots.

Why is this so? I think it’s because as Robert Frost has correctly pointed out, students and parents choosing for the college education of their sons and daughters simply avoid that which is difficult and unpopular. They do not want to take the risk of taking “the road less travelled”- to make a difference as you and I have boldly done.

Congratulations mining engineers for boldly taking the road less travelled!

We owe it to ourselves:

Mining engineer professionals are a dwindling lot. The gap between supply and demand for mining engineers is widening. This will worsen even further in the coming years. In 1927, EM license no. 0001 was given to Engineer Vic Elicano; 78 years later in September 7, 2005 EM license no. 2758 was granted to Engr. Jose B Gonzaga. Only 875 EMs are actually practicing Mining Engineering!

In the past decades or so we saw mines, big and small, closed down and/or forced to shut down operations due to low metal prices, high operating costs and the currency crisis in ’97. To add to this is the lack of support from the government to help these ailing mines and the ever increasing anti-mining sentiments from some sectors of the society.

To compound the problem very little effort is being done to attract new students to the mining profession. I think you and I are partly to blame for we do very little to promote our mining profession. Some of us say, blame it on Marcopper, for irresponsibly filling the Boac River with tails. Others might say blame it on the bad publicity and anti-mining sentiment orchestrated by the CBCP. Still others will say blame it on media moguls who do not even stop and think that the very infrastructure that media uses, that is to say, cameras, lighting, transmission towers, electrical lines, buildings that house television and radio stations, etc are the very products sourced and derived from mining!

On the other hand, we know of a lot of disillusioned mining engineers who have totally abandoned the profession in pursuit of interests other than mining such as farming, driving, entrepreneurship, and the like. In addition, high demand from overseas offering better compensation package for mining engineers have put further pressure on the mining engineer supply situation.

Our profession is going in the way of the dinosaurs, the road to extinction and perdition.

Shall we allow this to happen?

Today things are different.. There is hope and there is light at the end of the tunnel…
The PSEM and the PRC Board of Mining Engineers together with the affiliated professional organisations notably the GSP and the SMEP have worked together to come up with the new Mining Engineering Law. This is the expanded version of the old mining Engineering Law and this time with a wider scope of practice for Mining Engineers not only in metallic and non-metallic mining but also in the field of energy resources such as oil and gas. Together with the CHED, we have taken the initiatives to revise the curriculum to expand the opportunities for would be mining engineering students.

Even practicing Mining Engineers will be given that opportunity to excel in their profession and their expertise duly recognised through the PSEM Fellowship program. These professionals working in the mines do not have the same opportunities as those in the government service and academe to pursue post graduate training because they cannot easily avail of study leave from their employers. This program will afford them the opportunity to gain academic equivalent qualifications and enhance their professional status

Today a number of our illustrious Mining Engineers, 14 of them have been granted the title of APEC and ASEAN Mining Engineers which allows them to practice their profession in the ASEAN and Asia Pacific APEC members countries such as, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Singapore and others.

Can you imagine a world where there are no such mining engineers who will pro-actively and responsibly recover the rich mineral deposits of our country?

That is tantamount to depriving future generations of the comforts and conveniences we now enjoy, such as the iPods that play your soothing MP3 music where ever you go; the ubiquitous cellphone that instantaneously touches and connects people to their loved ones; electricity and gas that cook and keep your

meals hot; concrete houses that shelter your loved ones; cathedrals and churches that provides refuge to hurting souls; sleek cars, trains, ships and Lear jets that transport you to places of work and play; rocket ships that explore our solar system in search of future worlds, I can go on and on with a litany of benefits man has derived from mining. Because if it can’t be grown…it has to be mined!

All these are now a reality because there were men and women of vision who took up mining engineering risking their limbs and lives to extract valuable minerals buried deep in the bowels of good mother earth for benefit of mankind.

Never again would I live or allow my children’s children to live in a cold, dark, cave or up a tree like a monkey because I abhor mining as some hypocrites are now espousing. Some of these people do not want mining to be developed.

Would you?

We Owe it to our Country:

The Philippines is blessed and well endowed with Mineral Resources both metallic and non-metallic that would make this country as rich as the oil producing countries in the Middleast. With 1/3 of the entire Archipelago considered as potential area for geological prospective exploration for mineral resources, and considering that only 1.5% of the total land area is covered by approved mining tenements, the likelihood of discovering new “Grasbergs” or “Chuquicamatas” is not farfetched.

In terms of mineral endowment, we are in the top 10 in the world today. We are 3rd in Gold after SA and Tanzania, 4th in Copper and 7th and 8th in chromite and nickel respectively but sad to say we are not even in the top 10 in terms of production. Even the key raw material in the manufacture of cement, limestone, at the current rate of production, the limestone deposit is good for almost 200 years!! No wonder global cement manufacturers have made their presence here with Holcim, Cemex and La Farge with a combined investment of $2 Billion.

In fact we already have a “Tampakan”, a “Boyongan”, a “KingKing” or “Far SouthEast”, all worldclass ore deposits now beckoning to be mined.

These orebodies when developed will bring employment in the countryside. Our heroes, the so-called “OCWs” need not leave the country, and specially their families to seek employment elsewhere. These will open up opportunities for building new and vibrant communities that are self reliant with new roads, housing facilities, new schools, hospital/ clinic, recreational, work facilities, cellsites, and other amenities never even thought of possible in such isolated places if not for mining. Not to mention the foreign investments poured into the country, the much-needed foreign exchange and taxes to be generated that will fund people oriented projects by the government for the Filipino people.

In short imagine how it would feel like for us Filipinos to be a lender country in our lifetime…WOW that’s a far cry from our current state as a borrower where our future children and grandchildren are already indebted even before they were born!

But to support this growing industry, we need skilled workers and technical people particularly mining engineers metallurgist and geologists. With the current supply and demand situation as you see we need to address this as soon as possible.

Out of 5 schools offering the course since early 90s, 2 have stopped offering the course: SLU and Mapua.

The remaining 3 schools have either zero enrollees this year while UP is trying to promote it and accepting transferees. We in the society have initiated discussions on possible scholarship grants with the stakeholders particularly the mining companies and the mining contractors. We need to work now or we will have a very serious shortage in the coming years.

We Owe it to God:

Have you ever wondered why a Glorious GOD has created minerals and left it buried for nothing?

In Deuteronomy 8:7-9 it states: “For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs that flows out of valleys and hills. A land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil (virgin coconut oil) and honey.

Note verse 9…a land of which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, A LAND WHOSE STONES ARE IRON AND OUT OF THOSE HILLS YOU CAN DIG COPPER.”

And you can dig copper…Mining as a profession is endorsed by God!!
God wants us to enjoy a good life, God is not a miser as others would think..
God wants us to enjoy his creation including the minerals underneath the earth, material blessings that a loving God wants us to enjoy..

But at the same time God want us to manage these blessings responsibly…otherwise it becomes a curse. (Deuteronomy 8:11-20) read it on your Bible.

Indeed, Mining is a God endorsed profession. It is an honorable calling.

Help us share the good news and encourage your sons, your daughters, your friends your neighbors’ sons and daughters to take that road less travelled...you won’t go wrong.