Semirara Mining suspends ops in Antique

By Jordeene B. Lagare – December 2, 2020
from The Manila Times

Listed Semirara Mining and Power Corp. has suspended its mining operations on Semirara Island in Antique province after heavy rainfall resulted in a water buildup at its site there.

In a disclosure on Tuesday, the Consunji-led mining firm identified the site that would suspend operations as “North Block 7 (NB7), one of four mining blocks in Molave Mine.”

Semirara Mining attributed the suspension to the buildup of water in the sump of the area, “caused by water seepages and aggravated by heavy rainfall from the recent typhoons.”

A sump is a low space that collects often undesirable liquids, such as water or chemicals.

According to the company, the suspension would allow its technical consultants and mining personnel to implement remedial measures to manage the buildup.

It did not specify when operations would normalize once these measures are completed.
The suspension is not expected to Semirara Mining’s coal shipments, since it has an inventory of 3.4 million metric tons (MT) of coal as of Tuesday.

But the firm implied it might be unable to meet the coal quality specifications of some customers because of the expected delay in the production of high calorific value coal.

“Discussion between the company and these customers are ongoing to address the matter,” Semirara Mining said.

It also said it was behind its coal production target of 15 million MT for 2020 by 1.7 million MT.

“Ramping up production to meet the full-year target is unlikely at this point, given the water seepages at NB7,” it added.

With production to decrease, Semirara Mining estimated the financial impact would be an increase of about P900 million in the cost of coal sold, owing to the higher weighted average cost. This, in turn, would negatively impact the firm’s profitability this year.

Semirara Mining shares decreased by 24 centavos or 1.94 percent to close at P12.16 each on Tuesday.