Sunday, March 17, 2013

Design study on power plant for Sagittarius mine starts


Business World Online
Posted on March 17, 2013 09:35:16 PM

GENERAL SANTOS -- Design and engineering studies on the planned $806-million coal-fired plant that will supply the needs of the $5.9-billion copper-gold project of Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI) have begun, an executive of the power firm concerned said earlier this month.

  Oscar Benedict E. Contreras III, Alsons Power Business Unit manager for communications and stakeholder relations, said in a phone interview that, besides the study, Alsons Energy Development Corp. “will be holding a public consultation within the year” on the planned 400-megawatt (MW) power plant.

Mr. Contreras said Alsons Energy and Sagittarius Mines had reached an agreement for the construction of a new power plant dedicated solely for the planned mining operation of the latter. Under the agreement, Sagittarius Mines that will secure community and local government approval for the power project.

Mr. Contreras said construction of the power plant may start in the second half of next year.

It will be built in a 35.4-hectare area in the Kamanga Agro-Industrial Economic Zone in Maasim, Sarangani that is administered by Kamanga Agro-Industrial Ecozone Development Corp., another unit of the Alsons Group.

Alsons Group, through Sarangani Energy Corp., is currently building a 210-MW coal-fired power plant that will serve the needs of this city, Sarangani province and neighboring areas. The project, located near a diving spot, is opposed by local church groups and Greenpeace.

The Alsons Group has a stake in SMI’s copper-gold project through the Australian firm Indophil Resources NL, where the Filipino conglomerate holds a 19.99% stake. SMI’s 40% controlling stake is held by a joint venture of Australia-based Xstrata Copper (62.5%) and Indophil (37.5%). 

The remaining 60% is held by Tampakan Mining Corp. and Southcot Mining Corp.

The $5.9-billion project covers 9,605 hectares straddling Tampakan, South Cotabato; Malungon, Sarangani; Columbio, Sultan Kudarat; and Kiblawan, Davao del Sur.

The project last month secured a provisional environmental compliance certificate (ECC), which requires Sagittarius Mines to, among others, secure the consent of all local governments concerned. South Cotabato’s ban since mid-2010 on open-pit mining -- the miner’s chosen extraction method -- was one of the factors that prompted the company to announce on Dec. 12 last year that it had deferred planned commercial production at the site by three years to 2019. After securing the ECC, the company has said it is keeping that time table.

The project is expected to produce 375,000 metric tons of copper and 360,000 ounces of gold a year, worth $37 billion over its 20-year mine life, according to data from both the Environment department and Sagittarius Mines. -- R. S. Sarmiento  source

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