Benguet says mine leak under control

Listed Benguet Corp., the oldest mining firm in the country said the minor and intermit­tent mine tailings leak in An­tamok, Benguet has been put under control.

In a report to the Philip­pine Stocks Exchange, Ben­guet Corporation said the mine tailings leak was discovered following regular inspection conducted by the company af­ter the heavy rains brought by super typhoon “Lawin.”

The leak occurred in the drain tunnel of the Antamok underground mines which has not been operated by the com­pany since 1989.

Upon investigation, ini­tial findings showed the mine tailings came from the Antam­ok tailings impoundment area swhich may have entered the drain tunnel through a breach caused by the intense rains. No further leaks have been ob­served to date,” it said.

Preliminary estimates showed only a negligible 50,000 metric tons (MT) of tailings material leaked into Liang River which is substan­tially less compared to previ­ous incidents involving other mines.

The mining firm stressed that there were no reports of damage to property or injury to persons direct­ly attributable to the leak. “Claims of incidental damages due to siltation, if any, are being verified.

Discussions have also been held with the local com­munities,” it said.

In an earlier letter to Cor­dillera office of the Environ­mental Management Bureau (EMB-CAR) Regional Director Reynaldo Digamo and Mines and Geosciences Bureau office at the Cordillera Autonomous Region (MGB-CAR) Regional Director Fay Apil, the com­pany stated that upon discov­ery of the mine tailings leak, it mobilized its workforce and equipment to prevent any fur­ther outflow and has initiated containment and clean-up ac­tivities in the immediate area to make sure that the residents in the surrounding communities will not be affected.

Benguet Corp likewise immediately conducted water sampling along the Liang Riv­er.

Laboratory test showed there are no toxic substances present in the water samples, which means that the leaked tailings material is safe and inert. Samples will be sent to a third party for independent laboratory analysis.

The company said the An­tamok tailings impoundment area has not been used since 1998 when the Antamok open pit and underground mine temporarily ceased to operate.

The tailings impoundment dam now serves as catchment area for mine tailings from the rampant unregulated small scale mining activities in the upstream area, which would otherwise pollute the environs. However, it was explained that both the open pit and un­derground mines and its facili­ties are in continuous care and maintenance through the years and there are technical studies going on for the progressive rehabilitation of the areas such as tailings reprocessing project, conversion of open pit to water reservoir for bulk water proj­ect, engineered sanitary land­fill (ES) with waste-to-energy project, and Minahang Bayan.

Benguet Corp assured that it is continuously implement­ing the necessary corrective and permanent measures to prevent the occurrence of sim­ilar incidents in the future.

Benguet Corp was es­tablished on Aug. 12, 1903 as Benguet Consolidated Min­ing Company. The company changed its name to Benguet Consolidated Inc. in 1956, and finally to its present corporate name in 1980.

The company explores for mines, currently produces and markets gold, nickel laterite ore, limestone; and through its subsidiaries, provides lo­gistics, port and shipping ser­vices, and healthcare services; sells industrial equipment and supplies; develops water re­sources and real estate projects. Aside from mining and mineral exploration, Benguet Corporation also ventured into various projects through several wholly owned subsid­iaries. It engaged into health­care and diagnostics services through BenguetCorp Lab­oratories; mining logistics through Arrow Freight Cor­poration; trading of indus­trial equipment and supplies through Benguetrade Inc.; port services through Key­stone Port Logistics and Management Services Cor­poration; shipping services through Calhorr 1 Marine Services Corporation and Calhorr 2 Marine Services Inc.; and real estate develop­ment and lime production through BMC Forestry Cor­poration.