Mapúa Malayan Colleges Mindanao participated in the virtual EMerald Resources Engineering Conference titled “Minerals In The Loop Conference 2020” with the theme “Small Scale Mining & The Community” last December 14 to 15, 2020. The global event was hosted by the EMerald Consortium of European Schools, namely Liège Universitè in Belgium, Universitè de Lorraine in France, Luleå University of Technology of Sweden, and Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology in Germany.
The global conference is a 24-hour event touring the world to learn more about mineral resources engineering and welcome research and innovations in the said field. It had 11 stops, namely Freiberg (Germany), Nancy (France), Sāo Paulo (Brazil), New York (United States), Brisbane (Australia), Manila (Philippines), Perth (Australia), Helsinki (FInland), Luleå (Sweden), Cape Town (South Africa), and Liège (Belgium). Only Mapúa Malayan Colleges Mindanao and the University of the Philippines – Diliman had been invited to the international conference from the Philippines.
Dr. Gernelyn T. Logrosa, Head of the Office for Research, Development & Innovation, represented Mapúa Malayan Colleges Mindanao as a keynote speaker, sharing about “The Philippine Small-scale Mining.” This particular session aimed to showcase an overview of small-scale mining communities in the Philippines in three aspects namely livelihood, community, and culture.
“Mapúa Malayan Colleges Mindanao, as it banners World-Class Mapúa Education, pursues excellence and relevance in research which is the core of our institutional research agenda. We care about relevant issues in Mindanao including health and safety risks affecting Small-scale Mining communities. Mindanao is rich in mineral resources, especially gold, which is why it is only fitting that MapúaMCM joins the discussion about the region.” Dr. Gernelyn T. Logrosa stated.
As a school that prides itself in its engineering programs, Dr. Gernelyn T. Logrosa shared that Mapúa Malayan Colleges Mindanao supports technology utilization in addressing health, safety, and environmental issues.
As a metallurgical engineer herself, Dr. Logrosa is part of the team of researchers who developed the Community-Led Integrated Non-Cyanide Non-Mercury Gold Extraction Method (CLINN-GEM Technology) that provides a clean and safe mineral processing in some provinces in the country. This also showcases how the academe can work with the industries and the government, represented by Engr. Teodorico A. Sandoval – Mines and Geosciences Bureau Central Office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Presentations from other experts discussed topics such as engineering, resource characterization, mineral processing, automated mineralogy, recycling, landfill mining, circular economy, and more.