Stock News 2013: Philex agrees to pay in full P1.034B fine for mine spill

Philex Mining Corp. will pay in full the P1.034-billion fine imposed by the government over the mine spill at its Padcal mines a day ahead of the deadline.

The gold and copper producer has promised to comply with the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) penalty following the spill of 20 million metric tons of tailings from its Tailings Storage Facility 3 in Padcal in August last year, even if it claimed that there was no negligence on its part.

“We believe it was a result of the elements of nature—an event of force majeure. But even as we are not at fault, we share the concern of the government for the environment, thus we are paying the fee, as set by regulators, to cover the costs of remediation and rehabilitation activities,” said Michael Toledo, senior vice president for corporate affairs at Philex Mining.

Philex contested the fines twice at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, arguing that the mine spill was a result of a historically unprecedented heavy rainfall. Its appeals were denied by the MGB, which insisted that Philex was negligent.

Nonetheless, Toledo said the company would continue cooperating with government regulators to ensure the safety and integrity of its TSF3 and the rehabilitation of the areas affected by the accidental discharge of water and sediment from the pond at Padcal mines in Itogon, Benguet.

Philex had to pay the full amount of the penalty on or before the Feb. 19 deadline as MGB director Leo Jasareno announced yesterday that the agency had rejected the request of the mining company last Feb. 13 to pay the fine on an installment basis.

The payment, according to Jasareno, would be remitted to the National Treasury and accrue to the Mine Wastes and Tailings Reserve Fund, which will be used to pay claims for compensation for the damage caused by the mine spill.

Apart from the P1-billion fine for violating the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, Philex is facing P92.8 million in fines for polluting two water bodies—Balog creek and Agno River—and violating the Clean Water Act or the Republic Act 9275.

http://business.inquirer.net/107843/philex-agrees-to-pay-in-full-p1-3-b-fine-for-mine-spill

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Stock News 2013: Philex slapped with new fine

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (Philippines) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Gold and copper producer Philex Mining Corp. has again been slapped with a fine by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), this time for the pollution inflicted on two bodies of water by the tailings spill at its Padcal mine in Benguet.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange Thursday, Philex said it was served a copy of the order by the DENR’s Pollution Adjudication Board (PAB) directing the company to pay an initial amount of P92.9 million.

This latest fine is different from the P1.034 billion penalty earlier imposed on Philex by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) for alleged violations of the Mining Act of 1995. The mining law imposes fines of P50 per metric ton of tailings discharged into areas other than the approved tailings disposal area.

The MGB based the fine on the total volume of the discharged tailings from tailings pond No. 3, which reached 20.7 million MT.

The new fine ordered by the DENR stems from the same tailings spill incident but was computed per day—based on the company’s alleged violations of Republic Act 9275, or the Clean Water Act—from Aug. 3 to Nov. 28.

On Aug. 1, 2012, mine sediments from the tailings pond No. 3 of Philex’s Padcal mine flowed into the Balog Creek and the Agno River which is connected to the San Roque Dam in Pangasinan.

http://business.inquirer.net/104291/philex-slapped-with-new-fine

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Stock News 2012: Philex reports 53% profit drop

Photo of Manny (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Philex Mining Corp. (PMC) reported a 53 percent drop in net income for the first nine months of the year to P2.03 billion from the P4.35 billion recorded in the same period last year because of lower metal production in the third quarter following the suspension of the operations of its copper-gold mine in Padcal, Benguet in August.

The company’s performance from January to September was still brighter than the earlier forecast made by its chairman Manuel Pangilinan that net income for the whole of 2012 would reach only between P1.5 billion to P1.7 billion.

Core net income for the first nine months of the year was placed at P2.26 billion, down by 43 percent from P3.9 billion in the same period last year.

Total ore milled during the third quarter fell to 880,808 dry metric tons (DMT) from which the company produced 3.97 million pounds of copper, 12,616 ounces of gold and11,539 ounces of silver during the month of July.

PMC suspended the operations of the Padcal mine on Aug. 1 following the leakage of water and sediment from the broken tailings pond no. 3 of the mine.

Total ore milled during the past nine months reached 5.54 million DMT which produced 22.31 million pounds of copper, 71,297 ounces of gold, and 67,704 ounces of silver.

“Both financial and operating results for this quarter are better than what has been anticipated, given the unexpected setback in our Padcal operations. There were struggles, but I am pleased that the company responded positively to the accident. I have always believed that the more than 2,200-strong Philex employees would respond to the challenge with courage and unity – as has been the mark of our employee corps historically,” said PMC chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan in the disclosure.

PMC is expected to resume the operations of its copper-gold mine in Padcal, Benguet in the middle part of 2013 as it begins the construction of a spillway for its broken tailings pond no. 3 (TP3).

Operations of the mine remain suspended until it is lifted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

PMC faces several fines for the tailings spill accident at the Padcal mine which occurred on Aug.1. This include the P1.034 billion imposed by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) for violation of Mining Act, the P50,000 penalty imposed by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) for violation of the Envrionmental Compliance Certificate contract as well as the P50,000 to P200,000 per day penalty imposed for violation of the Clean Water Act.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=66&articleId=865506

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Stock News 2012: Aboitiz unit inks $546-M Davao power plant deal

Cilacap's coal-fired power plant (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A unit of Aboitiz Power Corp. has signed a $546-million deal with contractors and suppliers for the construction of a clean coal-fired power plant in Southern Mindanao.

In a disclosure, Aboitiz Power said its subsidiary Therma South Inc. (TSI) “entered into construction, supply and coordination contracts with local and foreign contractors for the construction of TSI’s 300-megawatt (MW) circulating fluidized-bed coal-fired power generation facility.”

“The aggregate value of the construction, supply and coordination contracts for the Davao coal project is around $546 million,” it added.

The coal-fired power plant will be located in Toril District, Davao City and Sta. Cruz in Davao del Sur.

In June last year, the Davao City Council endorsed TSI’s power plant project. TSI will use clean coal technology, which seeks to reduce harmful emissions.

TSI already secured an environmental compliance certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources through the Environmental Management Bureau.

As of end-March, Aboitiz Power’s attributable capacity was at 2,350 MW, up by 15 percent from last year.  It owns and operates the 747-MW Tiwi-Makban geothermal plants in Albay, two 100-MW bunker-fired power barges, the 105-MW Ambuklao hydroelectric plant in Benguet and the 100-MW Binga hydroelectric plant in Benguet.

It also holds the independent power Producer administrator contract for the 700-MW Pagbilao coal-fired plant in Quezon and owns a 232-MW coal-fired power plant located in Misamis Oriental.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=823391&publicationSubCategoryId=66

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Stock News 2012: BPI extends 'green loan' for waste-to-energy plant

English: BPI Building in Makati City, at the corner of Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has extended a “green loan” for the construction of the first refuse-derived fuel (RDF) plant in the Philippines.

The funding is part of the bank’s Sustainable Energy Finance (SEF) program.

Green Alternative Technology Specialist Inc. (GATSI) will use the loan to finance the RDF project that will operate a waste management, reduction and utilization plant at the Rodriguez sanitary landfill in Montalban, Rizal.

RDF is a substitute to coal and fossil fuel created by converting solid waste to energy. Combustible components of municipal wastes such as plastic and biodegradable materials will be shredded and dehydrated via a waste converter technology to produce energy.

GATSI is a joint venture company producing and supplying RDF to Solid Cement Corp. for 10 years. Solid Cement will be able to save 50 percent of its coal requirements from using RDF.

GATSI and Solid Cement’s collaboration earned them the Fr. Neri Satur Award for Environmental Heroism by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources together with the Climate Change Commission, National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council, Philippine International Theatre Institute and the UNESCO.

The SEF program is a partnership between the bank and the International Finance Corp. (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank Group.

Through this program, BPI makes it easy for companies and institutions to invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.

In 2008, BPI and IFC launched the SEF, the first-of-its-kind program aimed to help businesses be cost-efficient and self-sustaining facilities and, at the same time, taking care of the environment.

It is designed for end-users, as well as service and technology providers of energy efficient (EE) and renewable energy (RE) products. The latter includes energy service companies (ESCOs), or any company or individual planning to design, develop or implement relevant projects.

The SEF program was jumped started by a P5-billion fund established by BPI, and the IFC guaranteed a certain amount or percentage of ‘green’ loans.

IFC has chosen the Philippines to jumpstart its first sustainable energy finance efforts in Southeast Asia. These pioneering efforts serve as a launch pad for any probable project where energy is produced, transmitted, delivered, consumed, or stored.

Since then, BDO Unibank Inc. established its own program with the IFC.

According to the multilateral development institutions, the Asia and the Pacific has been the world’s largest resource user since the mid-1990s. If current trends continue, its CO2 emissions are likely to more than triple by 2050, putting an unbearable strain on the earth’s ecosystems. Reversing this trend will require a new development model characterized by systems innovation, efficient use of resources, and a greatly reduced reliance on hydrocarbons.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=820272&publicationSubCategoryId=66

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Stock News 2011: SMC wants 51% of Indophil

Image via Wikipedia
Diversifying giant San Miguel Corporation is holding its ground and will not be making any more investment in Indophil Resources NL unless the Philippine conglomerate is allowed to acquire 51 percent controlling stake in the mining company.

In an interview, SMC president Ramon S. Ang said there are many unresolved issues regarding SMC’s planned investment in Indophil Resources and these will have to be resolved first before they buy any more Indophil shares.

Ang said in a text message earlier that among these issues is SMC’s requirement that it gets a controlling stake in Indophil.

Because of these unresolved issues, Ang said they are not buying any more Indophil shares even if it means the dilution of SMC’s 10.1 percent stake in Indophil which it had acquired for Australian$41.29 million.

SMC’s main interest in Indophil is the latter’s 37.5-percent stake in Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI), which has the rights to the Tampakan gold and copper mine in South Cotabato.

http://mb.com.ph/articles/322380/smc-wants-51-indophil

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