AUSSIE RUGBY LEAGUE LEGEND DARREN LOCKYER LOOKING AT BLACK SAND MINING IN GULF PROVINCE

By Sonja Ramoi

While Rugby League legend Darren Lockyer was here in Gulf Province signing autographs on footballs and shirts, he was also here for the awareness of his Black Sand Mining Company (which he is also a director) proposed to mine black sands deposited along the coastal project sites. Black sand concentrates often contain additional valuables, other than precious metals: rare earth elements, thorium, titanium, tungsten, zirconium and others are often fractionated during igneous processes into a common mineral-suite that becomes black sands after weathering and erosion.

Several gemstones, such as garnet, topaz, ruby, sapphire, and diamond are found in placers and in the course of placer mining, and sands of these gems are found in black sands and concentrates.

Black Sand Mining is a controversial mining that has operated in the Philippines, Chile & also Australia.

Conversationists in Queensland lobbied the Government to preserve the Rainbow Beach and Fraser Island by the Australian High Courts to protect this areas due to environmental impacts.

Zambales, located in the Philippines had a NGO that advocates for community health conducted a mission last November in one of the project sites prompted by growing numbers of cases of skin & lung diseases reportedly attributed to the black sand mining. Also severe eye irritation & hernia.

Studies by environmental groups in areas with black sand mining showed that it contributed to the depletion of fisheries, erosion of land & severe flooding in coastal & riverside communities.

The main affected people will be the coastal people of Gulf within the project sites that their daily livelihood depends on fisheries. Further more Gulf yields tons of prawns worth over K14-20 million kina into the countries revenue. A renewable and sustainable fisheries that can be endangered by Black Sand Mining.