By ANGELICA BALLESTEROS, TMT on March
16, 2018
CONSUNJI-LED Semirara Mining and
Power Corp. is hiking its 2018 capital expenditures by 62 percent to P13
billion to boost its excavating capacity and extend the operating life of its
power facilities.
More than half, or P7 billion, will
be allotted to its subsidiaries Sem-Calaca Power Corp. (SCPC) and Southwest
Luzon Power Generation Corp. (SLPGC).
Of the P7 billion, around $90
million or P4.5 billion, will be used for the life extension program of
Sem-Calaca while the remaining P2.3 billion will fund the two subsidiaries’
regular maintenance.
Semirara said funding for the power
segment investments will come from a combination of internally generated funds
and medium- to long-term loans.
The remaining P6 billion will be
invested in more acquisitions of dump trucks, excavators, and other support
equipment to ramp up its stripping operations. Funding for the P6 billion will
come from the company’s balance sheet.
For its coal production business,
Semirara said it will need heavy equipment to move more overburden materials,
which will be used to accelerate the final rehabilitation of its South Panian
pit in Antique Province.
“We plan to totally fill the
southern portion of the Panial pit within the next two years so it becomes a
stable landform,” Semirara President and Chief Operating Officer Victor
Consunji said.
“After that, we will undertake a
massive reforestation program in the area to restore its ecological balance,”
he added.
The Panian pit was shut down in
September 2016 following the depletion of its mineable coal reserves as
certified by the Department of Energy. Semirara has since moved its extraction
operations to its new mine sites, namely Molave and Narra, to restore the
ecological balance of Panian.
Prior to pre-mine operation, the
Panian area was characterized by rolling hills of open grasslands and numerous
gullies with shrubs and trees.
Once the Panian mine pit becomes a
stable landform, Semirara will cover the area with humic acid, compost and
other materials to add nutrients to the soil. This will be followed by a
massive reforestation program involving endemic and suitable plant species.
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