The Philippine Online Chronicles

Scientists have confirmed the presence of rare minerals in the Palawan’s Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR), which recently made it into the New 7 Wonders of Nature.

In a report, Puerto Princesa City mayor Edward Hagedorn said that deposits of “serranbrancaite” or manganese phospate are not usually found in regular caves, and the only other known deposits of this dark brown to dark greenish black mineral are in Sierra Branca, Brazil.

Serrabrancaite is formed from the mineralization of guano, the droppings of bats and seabirds that make their homes inside caves.

The serrabrancaite deposits in the underground river were confirmed by famous crystallographer Dr. Paolo Forti, who joined the Italian La Venta Geographical Association scientific expedition to PPUR.

In a statement, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) secretary Ramon Paje said the mineral was extracted from an inlet of the PPUR.

“Cave experts themselves are amazed because only few caves in the world host more than three to four minerals, yet in the PPUR alone, they have unearthed at least 11, of which three are new cave minerals,” Paje said.

Aside from serranbrancaite, scientists also discovered new cave minerals robersite and janggunite in PPUR, according to Paje.

“The 20 million year-old fossilized remains of a sea cow or sirenia have also been found embedded in perfect condition in the cave’s walls,” DENR said in a statement.

Tourism boom

Recently, PPUR was hailed as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature based on SMS and online votes, though the organizers of the campaign said the list of 7 wonders will still be finalized based on their check of the tally of votes.

PPUR is located about 50 km north of the city of Puerto Princesa, and is touted to be world’s longest river.

Other natural wonders in the top 7 include South Korea's Jeju Island, Indonesia's Komodo Island, the Amazon rainforest, Vietnam's Halong Bay, Argentina's Iguazu Falls, and South Africa's Table Mountain.

With the inclusion of PPUR in the top 7 new wonders, the local government is anticipating the influx of foreign and local tourists.

Hagedorn said tourists visiting Puerto Princesa jumped to 425,000 last year from 160,000 tourists in 2007.

But Sen. Loren Legarda sees this as both good and bad, as a spike in tourism would also mean that PPUR would be more prone to exploitation from tourists and tourism companies.

"We hope that the government of Puerto Princesa would strengthen its policies to preserve the beauty of the Underground River and the ecosystems that exist in it,” Legarda said in a report.