Four small-scale miners die in South Cotabato landslide

KORONADAL CITY, Philippines – Saturday, four small-scale miners died and two others rescued when landslide struck a mine expansion site in Tampakan town, South Cotabato, a local official said. The soil in the hilly Tampakan area had been destabilized by two-day heavy rains, leading to the landslide that covered the mine in Sitio Bong Anten in Barangay Pulabato.

The spokesperson of the army's 10th Infantry Division, Lieutenant Colonel Lyndon Paniza said that the bodies of Remy Daway, Kimram Bayuri, and two others were retrieve after the tragedy which was caused by two-day of continuous rains in Pulabato village, Tampakan area in South Cotabato province. The gold and copper rich area has been saturated by several days of rain, Paniza added.

Tampakan is the largest identified undeveloped copper-gold deposit in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia. Study shows that this mine could give in a normal yearly production of 370,000 metric tons of copper and 360,000 ounces of gold.

On a similar unpleasant incident, another four miners were killed and three others injured in a neighboring town after a heavy shower crashed into a mining community in Compostela Valley region and caused unexpected flooding that flounced away three other kids who are still missing.