MINE SPILL. A Philex Mining staff checks the penstock of the tailings pond of Padcal mine in Benguet. Photo courtesy of Philex

MANILA, Philippines – Philex Mining Corp. may temporarily resume its Padcal mine operations next week, when it expects to get the go signal of the Pollution Adjudication Board, the company’s chairman said Thursday, February 28.

The company already obtained permission from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau to reopen the mine for up to 4 months to produce tailings. It said new tailings would fill the void in the mine’s compromised pond, preventing it from breaking again.

“We’re just waiting for the go signal from the Pollution board sometime next week so we can resume temporary operations,” Philex Chairman and CEO Manuel Pangilinan told reporters following the presentation of the 2012 financial report of affiliate Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

If things work out well, and integrity of the mine facility is restored, Pangilinan said they would ask government to allow them to resume full operations.

“For now, we’re just focused on slowly getting back on day-to-day operations including the beaching. As of the moment, we don't have a specific feasible date on when full operations will happen,” he said.

The closure of the mine after one of its tailings pond leaked in August affected Philex’s bottom line in 2012.

The company reported a net loss of nearly P295 million for the year, reversing its P5.8 billion net income in 2011.

The net loss also stemmed from one-time charges such as fines and expenses related to rehabilitation efforts, as well as write-offs of oil and coal assets owned by unit Philex Petroleum Corp. – with reports from Lean Santos/Rappler.com