Firms, consultants to monitor Padcal rehab efforts — Philex

An international company will validate the ongoing construction of structures for the rehabilitation of the area around Padcal Mine in Itogon, Benguet and another will review them, Philex Mining Co. told the Mines and Geosciences Bureau. According to its 25-page report to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources agency on November 22, Philex has commissioned Australian engineering and consulting firm Golder Associates to validate the design of the spillway for water management at the mine’s Tailings Pond 3. The project will then be subject to a peer review to be conducted by Snowy Mountains Engineering Corp., a group of engineers and development professional consultants. The tailings pond began leaking waste into nearby waterways on August 1, following heavy rains in the area. Philex suspended operations at the mine on August 3. The spill has since been called the biggest mining disaster in the country by the MGB and has resulted in a net loss in the third quarter for the company. When completed, the open spillway will have a decant system to allow deposition of tails and clean water to overflow, said the company. Check dams will also be built “to slow down water velocity running from the end of spillway to Balog Creek,” said the report. Three check dams have already been built, with six more under construction. Philex vice president for operations Libby Ricafort, who is also resident manager of the Padcal project, earlier said that the company would be spending about P400 million for the spillway, which will replace the tailings pond’s underground drainage system. He added that the company hopes to resume operations at Padcal in the second quarter of 2013, by which time the spillway will have been completed. Philex has also retained the services of environmental consultants for its P1.06-billion clean-up and rehabilitation of Balog Creek and its convergence area with Agno River, which were affected by the waste spill. Philex’s senior vice president for corporate affairs Michael Toledo said the company will conduct a “full characterization” of the creek— analyzing sediment and water samples based on “critical values established for proper nutrition of the crops to be used in restoration and enhancement”—as well as reforestation efforts and the improvement of monitoring procedures. — BM, GMA News