PMEA Blog

Jewel Topsfield

THE FEAR started to creep in when the fish began to die. The open pit copper, zinc, gold and silver mine on Rapu-Rapu Island had been heralded as the vanguard of the Philippines mining revival. The mine, owned by Melbourne company Lafayette, would employ locals and supply electricity, toilets and medical centres to the island.

But the brave new world turned ugly just months after the mine began operating in 2005, when a pump malfunction caused poisonous cyanide-laden sludge to ooze into the rivers. After a second fish kill, fear turned to panic when locals refused to buy fish from the island, robbing the villagers of their livelihood.

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