Chinese vessel loading mineral earth at Bggy Osmena

 Vessel mv Win Ever docked at a port in Baranggay Osmenia. 

A bulk hauler loads into mv Win Ever earth materials believed to be laden with minerals such as gold. – TCNAFacebook photos

By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ

A CHINESE vessel was recently seen docked at a port in Baranggay Osmena on the northern outskirts of Jose Panganiban while being loaded with red earth materials trucked from a quarry in Labo, CamNorte.

The red earth was believed to be destined for processing overseas for its mineral contents, particularly gold.

MV Win Ever was believed chartered by Pan Century Surfactants, Inc, a manufacturer of oleo-petroleum based products operating at Osmena.

The vessel’s dock was next to Pan Century’s sprawling high-security compound.

The company is operated by an Indian industrial group, while the vessel is owned and operated by vessel operators/charters Rich Forth Investments based in Dalian, China.

A private photographer took pictures of mv Win Ever during a loading operation and posted them on his Facebook site, drawing allegations of anomaly involving certain public officials in the provincial and municipal governments.

MWBuzz has learned that the earth materials were quarried from Napaod , a gold district in Labo, CamNorte, where small-scale alluvial gold mining is common.

There was a buck hoe at the Napaod quarry that loaded the earth into a dump truck, after which it was hauled off to the compound of Pan Century at Osmena for stockpiling.

The earth materials were later hauled off into the vessel by a bulk hauler.

It was still unclear where the cargo was destined and how it would be used.

However, speculations from the locals at Osmena had it that the earth materials would be processed for their gold contents and shipped to India where gold jewelry is in great demand, especially among the country’s rich and the growing middle-class.

A gold mining executive was surprised to learn that Pan Century was now processing red earth materials, although its main business is to manufacture petroleum-based product such as fatty acids, refined glycerine and fatty alcohol.

Overseas Mambulaoans and those from CamNorte who reacted to the Facebook pictures of the vessel and the quarry operations have alleged that the Indian company had the permission from the municipal government of Labo to extract the mineral-rich earth materials for export. 

They said that the open pit mining operations at Napaod has destroyed the environment in the area.

They also said that this quarrying operation of Pan Pacific has the blessings of the provincial government of Governor Edgardo Tallado, who has the sole authority to issue small-scale mining permits.

Tallado is a native of Labo.

The government through the Mines and GeoScience Bureau (MGB) had earlier banned small-scale gold mining operations in the country as well as the issuance of small-scale mining permits.

Recently, one Chinese vessel was caught loading iron ores off on the coast of Pulangdaga in Paracale. 

A group of concerned citizens in Paracale said the minerals had been illegally mined by a foreign-owned mining group which also attempted to ship the minerals out of the country.

At present, only the Chinese-owned Investwell Mineral Development Corp has the permit to operate the iron mines in Larap.

Efforts by MWBuzz to contact Pan Century were unsuccessful.

 
         A buck hoe operates the gold earth quarry at Napaod.

         A miner's shack at the gold district of Napaod.  

        The extent of environmental damage around the quarry area.

     A truck hauls earth materials for Pan Century.

      A truck enters the compound of Pan Century at Baranggay Osmena with gold   
     earth materials.

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Gold-laden earth materials stockpiled on sacks will be processed later to extract the yellow metal either through ball-milling, panning or sluicing.  - Pictures from TCNAFacebook postings

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