P4 B needed to put up new Philex tailings pond

By Dexter A. See 

TUBA, Benguet – Philex Mining Corporation needs at least P4 billion to put up a new tailings pond that will have a life of at least five years in time for the closure of its collapsed tailings pond number 3 to accommodate mine waste until the end of projected mine life in 2020.

Engineer Libby Ricafort, Philex vice president for operations and resident manager, said its tailings pond No. 3, which was built in 1992 to accommodate 177 cubic meters of mine waste, can still accommodate around 7 cubic meters of tailings with a life of two and a half years  once it will get a green light to resume operations after all appropriate measures have been put in place to establish the credibility of the tailings pond.

           

“We were able to plug the leak at penstock A using a 9-meter diameter sphere weighing 908 tons, 5 pieces of concrete balls with a diameter of 2.5 tons and 41 pieces of concrete balls with diameters of 2.6 meters each,” Ricafort said, adding around 61 meters of concrete had been put in place inside the damaged tunnel which was pinpointed to have caused the leak.

           

According to Ricafort, pentosck B, which is located near the busted tunnel, where clear water drains will also be sealed once the company will complete the construction of its spillway where water and sediments from the mine will eventually drain.

           

Ricafort said the P4 billion to be invested by Philex in the construction of its new tailings pond is exclusive of its P35 million daily loss of income since the mine stopped operations in August and the over P600 million infused by the company for the plugging of the leak and additional investments to ensure the integrity of the busted tailings pond.

           

“Our ultimate goal is to establish the integrity of the tailings pond by the middle of the first quarter of next year while we are doing massive manual and mechanized cleanup operations along the Balog creek,” lawyer Eduardo M. Aratas said, citing that the mining company will be ready for the evaluation of government regulators by next year so that Philex could resume operations anytime they are given clearance to do so.

           

 Philex is the country’s largest gold and copper producer with a total volume of 26,000 cubic meters of ore daily prior to its closure and was incorporated in July 1958.

           

Aratas explained employees and volunteers are now doing manual work to help cleanup the over six million cubic meters of tails that leaked from its busted pond and flowed down to the Balog creek before conducting mechanized cleanup operations.

           

“He explained the over 2,000 permanent and contractual workers will be properly compensated pursuant to the existing labor laws, rules and regulations which shows the company’s commitment not to abandon its operations for the benefit of its workers and even the people living in its host and neighboring communities.

           

The accidental leak of water and sediments at the company’s tailings pond no. 3 caused the eventual stoppage of operation of Philex Mining Corporation forcing management to hire the services of various local and foreign consultants to find the appropriate solutions to plug the leak and will translate to its eventual resumption of operations next year.