Govt clears reopening of Semirara coal mine

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Energy (DOE) has given full clearance to Semirara Mining Corp. to proceed with coal production in its North Panian mine.

The Caluya Antique mine, which was the site of a February 14 landslide that killed 5 people, was given clearance under the following conditions:

• It maintains and monitors the preventive measures to ensure stability of the west and north walls of Panian Pit
• It controls water seepages at the Panian West Wall area
• It continues the search and retrieval operation for the missing mine workers
• It operates in accordance with coal mine safety rules and regulations of the DOE

In the DOE clearance dated April 10, Energy Secretary Carlos Petilla said, “At the outset, we note that throughout the 13 years that you operated the following parameters and precautionary measures were instituted: cut-off wall construction, dewatering wells, observation wells (Piezometers) and crack monitoring by Extensometers and observers. All of these proved to be adequate and served well prior to the incident.”

“In the North Panian area, based on the validation of our staff, you have instituted notable improvements/ measures to ensure the smooth and safe operation.”

“We allowed the coal mining operations to resume in the North Panian area but not on the accident site. The North Panian area is more than 300 meters away from the accident site,” added Energy Undersecretary Ramon Oca.

“They conducted preparatory activities in the northern part and then we reviewed and validated if they put in place the necessary measures before proceeding with actual mining activities. These are safety measures. We also asked them to be careful so that what happened in the west wall won’t happen in the nothern part.”

Semirara is owned by David Consuji, the country’s 5th richest man according to a Forbes list. The DOE earlier granted Semirara clearance to conduct preparatory activities in North Panian. The agency handed out the clearance 3 weeks after the accident. – Rappler.com