The Save Apayao People’s Organization (SAPO) recently expressed strong opposition and concern over the mining interest of Copper Fields in the town of Conner, Apayao.
Residents said that the company has started calling meetings and consultations with barangay officials. They learned from these meetings that Greenwater Mining Corporation/Copper Fields has filed an application for exploration covering 4,256 hectares of land in Conner.
The group said the company’s activity follows the government’s announcement of a $1.9 billion investment pledge from Canada.
This is not the first time Copper Fields and Greenwater Mining have submitted applications to conduct exploration activities in Conner. Applications from March 1996 and May 2000 are listed on the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Public Portal. Both applications were denied in February 2011. Before this, residents also opposed the entry of Anglo American PLC in 2005.
In 2020 and 2021, the MGB-Cordillera Administrative Region conducted a Regional Geologic and Detailed Mineral Reservation Mapping in Barangay Talifugo, Conner, Apayao. The study covered approximately 6,500 hectares in Conner and identified significant potential for gold and copper in 13 different rock formations located in the town.
The group said the mining operations in their area will displace indigenous communities, destroy watersheds, and ruin their traditional way of life. Development should not be measured solely by the amount of gold and copper extracted from the mountains, it added.
“True development is measured by the protection of communities, the preservation of ecosystems, and the dignity of future generations,” the group said.
SAPO called for an investigation into all active mining applications in the town, genuine consultation with indigenous communities, and strict protection for local ecosystems. It urged farmers, youth, women, and local officials across the Cordillera to organize and oppose large-scale corporate mining projects on their ancestral lands.
