The problem of mining in its present state will always draw conflicts, no matter how many laws are passed, and no matter how virtuous the leader of the department of environment is. The mining companies will use all means to influence government activities to use the land and other resources instead of preserving, protecting them. They will always be there to check if their financial positions are in dangerous state. If they think they are in control of the earth, why can't they control the people?
Hence, the debacle that happened in the appointment of Ms. Gina Lopez, a passionate environmentalist, is just a continuing movement of the mining companies who could easily band together to counter the earth advocates positions.
Why do I say this? That any move along the same lines, no matter how many principled individual and groups raise their voices and attempt to shake the status quo, will always meet defeat.
Actually this stems from the mistaken view of the earth's resources. Gandhi said that "The earth's resources are enough for everyone, but not for anyone's greed." That is the whole point: once the mining companies get their legal papers, they become too eager to recoup their capital and then ride roughshod over human rights, over the required obligation to attend to the needs of those who will be displaced by their profiteering activities.
Where lies the fault, aside from the inner workings of a mistaken moral position? The receiving countries. Those who will benefit from the export of raw materials. .They dictate the prices of raw materials and so the mining companies try to extract more profits through volume of exports. That becomes the overriding interest -- to export as much raw materials as possible.
Now why doesn't the government use the materials to manufacture finished products, like steel from iron; or jewelry from gold and silver. Nickel is also much sought after. the Nickel Institute says that it is used : food preparation equipment, mobile phones, medical equipment, transport, buildings, power generation – the list is almost endless. They are selected because - compared with other materials - they offer better corrosion resistance, better toughness, better strength at high and low temperatures, and a range of special magnetic and electronic properties.
Most important are alloys of iron, nickel and chromium, of which stainless steels (frequently 8-12% nickel) are the largest volume. Nickel based alloys - like stainless steel but with higher nickel contents - are used for more demanding applications such as gas turbines and some chemical plants.
In addition, iron and nickel alloys are used in electronics and specialist engineering, while copper-nickel alloys are used for coinage and marine engineering.
We will be first class in the First World if we join the ranks of manufacturing nickel, won't we?
But that should not be our aim. Rather, we should turn away from the current economic activities: where poor countries become supplier of raw materials, and then the middle agents buy them for sale to the users -- the west- which then resell them to us in finished form and under a much higher price.
That is where iniquity, inequality set in resulting in conflicts.
Actually, we should view the world as one big employer. It provides humans with all the materials they (us) need to live, work and be happy. Ergo, we should all equally enjoy living on this earth.
Hence if this is the case, then the sale of raw materials at very low prices should be banned.
If we are going to work by percentages, the producers of raw materials -- us -- must have 50% ownership of the finished product. Our contribution to the manufacture of the finished products is the supply of raw materials. Ergo, we, the source of the raw materials should be seen as equal partners in the whole global economic enterprise as provided by our earth.
I think it is time to make the world turn around really in its practice of very poor economic principles. The principle used is "i invest, I get a profit, from 60 to 100%." And so the source of the raw materials, the poor indigenous groups who have lived and protected them from exploiters are shut out from the equation. Only the capitalist, the middle agents and the finished products remain as major players in the formulation of how to be wealthy in that particular industry.
No. We should say no to that. No more should our raw materials become targets and used to acquire, accumulate more and more capital for other people. Our participation has to be recognized as equal to everybody else.
In fact, we don't really need those middle agents, the mining companies anymore; their expertise, yes; but not as investors. The government could set up extracting companies and then sell directly to the users abroad. However, the relationship should be as partners in economic exploitation of and earning from the minerals.
1 Timothy Chapter 6
19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
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