(April 6, 2004) - Milling operations of Philex Mining Corp.-Padcal in Tuba, Benguet has resumed Tuesday after managing to control the temporary tailings seepage problem in the project’s Tailings Pond No. 3 (TP-3), according to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).

“As of 7:05 AM of Tuesday, April 06, 2004, Philex-Padcal’s milling operations have resumed. The tailings seepage incident at Tailings Pond No. 3 has been declared under control at 6:00 PM of April 5, 2004,” according to Regional Director Neoman de la Cruz of the MGB-Cordillera Administrative Region.

On March 31, 2004, one of the tailings pond personnel responsible for the daily monitoring of TP-3 noticed that the effluent discharging from one of the decant tunnel (Penstock B) is murky. A penstock is an infrastructure constructed within a tailings pond to manage excess water from the tailings pond.

The company voluntarily shut down their milling operations while company engineers immediately tried to plug the leaks through appropriate engineering measures.

De la Cruz also added that the Mine Rehabilitation Fund Committee (MRFC) of Philex is currently assessing the impacts of the incident and will identify additional mitigating measures.

The DENR Regional Environmental Management Bureau and the MGB regularly monitors the operations of Philex and assures the public that environmental mitigation and safety measures are in place to address any emergencies.