Peter B. Gawe, Tourism Senior Operations Officer, said that before entering the tunnel, the visitor wears a complete mining gear – skull guard, mine’s lamp and boots.
Entrance fee is
R150 for student and R250 for non-student.
In the first quarter of 1998, Benguet Corporation organized Benguet Parkland Development Corporation (BPDC) as its subsidiary, a new group tasked to plan, implement and operate eco-tourism projects.
Aside from Balatoc Mines Tour, the BPDC now operates the Crosby Park which is six hectares of pine forested reserve of pristine quality of 1,150 meters above sea level with scenic mountain, deep valleys, gorges and rolling slopes.
Crosby Park also offers opportunities and an ideal setting for hiking, camping, scout jamborees, meditation, photography, picnic/gatherings, playgrounds, obstacle courses for outdoor team-building, sports, exercises and other exhilarating nature-based experiences like eco-walks.
Restrooms and shower rooms are available and so with electricity. Overnight stay must be pre-arranged. Entrance fee is
R60 per person per day.
One can also see the Balatoc Lake that offers boating and picnicking and the Villaluna Resort, a perfect setting for conferences for stay-in seminars.
The latest attraction in the Villaluna Resort is the 11x 22 meters flowing swimming pool.
At the Villaluna Center Complex, the visitor can experience rustic ambience and comfort, unperturbed serenity at a gold mines location. The complex consists of the former staff mess hall of the company with dormitory-style bedrooms, the former staff cottages and apartments and multi-purpose hall. Accommodation is
R150 per person per day.
These projects which drew very strong support from the Department of Tourism (DoT) has so far accomplished their mandates to demonstrate that mining is not destructive but they are sustainable and scientific.
Judith K. Kilakil, a tour guide, said that they already had at least 78,000 visitors since it opened its underground mining tours in 1998.
Benguet Corporation was established in 1903 as a "sociedad anomina," known as "Benguet Consolidated Mining Company." It pioneered with the first modern mining operation in the Philippines when it opened the Antamok Mines in 1908 at Benguet province.
In the 1920s, the Company introduced a profit-sharing system with small mining companies and individual owners around the Itogon area, wherein with its technical expertise and financial resources, it would bring into production promising mining properties which would otherwise be left idle because of lack of capital and engineering know-how.
It was during this formation that it required interest in the Balotoc and Acupan Mines which led to the formation of the Balatoc Mining Company.
Perhaps, the new company’s charm was in the name "Balatoc" which is the Igorot word for gold and the Igorots had certainly managed to mine gold out of the mountains.
In 1956, the company was incorporated under the name Benguet Consolidated Inc. and renamed as "Benguet Corporation" in 1980.
In 1986, the total employment was 23,843 with a revenue of
R1,419,639,038 while taxes and duty, totaled R229,479,691.
Its new corporate name Benguet Corporation spearheaded a diversification of operations in different parts of the country. This was when the original underground mines was named the Benguet Gold Corporation.
The glorious moments of the BGO have been seriously threatened in the late 60s with the decline in metal prices and increasing operating costs.
Its problems were aggravated when a major portion of its Acupan underground was flooded as a result of the July 16, 1990 earthquake that has an intensity of 7.8 in the Richter scale.
Eventually, the Benguet gold operations finally shut down its underground mining and milling operations in November 1992. Now, the administration is reviving the mining industry. (LBValencia)
