Philex Mining Corporation has resumed operations at its Padcal Mines, in Benguet, after the Pollution Adjudication Board (PAB) lifted its temporary suspension.
The suspension was lifted to allow Philex to undertake urgent remediation measures in its Tailings Storage Facility No. 3 (TSF3) to further protect the environment.
“This is truly an indication of the government’s trust in us as a responsible mining company, to once again prove that we can continue working for economic progress while protecting the environment,” Philex president Eulalio Austin, Jr. said.
He added that “we also owe this greatly to the trust that our investors, local government leaders and communities have given us.”
The PAB decision stemmed from its board meeting on February 25, when the quasi-judicial body took note of the urgent need for Philex to resume operating its TSF3, based on the findings of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).
“Wherefore, after due deliberation and consultation, the Board resolves to Temporarily Lift the issued Cease and Desist Order last 28 November 201[2] to allow respondent to implement its Pollution Control Program by filling the void with fresh tailings as well as reconstruction of the offset dike,” PAB said in its decision.
Austin said more than 2,000 employees at Padcal resumes production at the mines at 12:01 a.m., March 8, exactly seven months and seven days from August 1, when Philex Mining voluntarily halted operations following a tailings-spill accident at TSF 3.
“We will make it our business to do better and to make good on our commitments,” he added.
The PAB order also required Philex to submit a monthly self-monitoring report (over four months) to the board through its regional office, which is also tasked to conduct a bi-monthly monitoring of the rehabilitation of TSF3.
Last February 26, the MGB gave Philex Mining the go-signal to resume operations at Padcal, following the payment of R1.034 billion in fees over the tailings-spill caused by historically unprecedented rains brought about by two successive typhoons.
MGB has acknowledged the “urgent remediation measures” needed to bring TSF3 back into its original condition—and that this should be done before the onset of the rainy season in June.
Philex Mining, through its international consultant Golder Associates, earlier said it needed 3.5 million tons of fresh tailings to fill the conical void and create a beach in its TSF3, which was designed to hold solids, not liquid.
It stressed that the filling and beaching process would push the accumulated water in the TSF3 away from its embankment and into an open spillway. Otherwise, the rainy season could cause water and sediment to overflow and spill into the outlying areas.
Earlier, Philex reported a net loss of R295 million for 2012 as a result of the suspension of its Padcal operations and the write off by a subsidiary of its investments in an oil and a coal asset.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Philex said its consolidated core net income amounted to R1.71 billion for 2012, a reduction of 69 percent from R5.57 billion a year earlier.
Meanwhile, Philex Petroleum Corporation, a 64.79 percent-owned subsidiary, reported a net loss of R1.09 billion compared with net income of R538 million in 2012.
Forum Energy Plc, a subsidiary of Philex Petroleum, wrote down R389 million of its investments in the North Cebu oil field under Service Contract No. 40, and Brixton Energy & Mining Corporation, another subsidiary, writing off R578 million of its coal assets under Coal Operating Contract No. 130 in Zamboanga Sibugay.