Consunji Group’s coal and mining company, Semirara Mining and Power Corp. allots P 2.92 billion in 2018 to Panian pit in Semirara Island intending to accelerate its rehabilitation.
P 1.83 billion of the said budget allotment was spent for the acquisition of dump trucks, excavators, and other support equipment needed in continue the company’s stripping and hauling operations. The remaining P 1 billion, on the other hand, went to fuel, labor, and other cash costs.
The Department of Energy (DOE) ordered Semirara to fast-track the backfilling of Panian pit so it can serve as an example of open pit mine rehabilitation in the Philippines.
The mining firm has already managed to unload 120 million bank cubic meters (BCM), which refers to the volume of neither loose or compact earth lying naturally from excavation and other mine-site activities, to the southern portion of the Panian pit within a year.
With overburden materials poured into the pit, Semirara brought the elevation of the site to zero meters from previous -260 meters which is equivalent to the height of a 78-storey building.
Semirara plans to put humic acid, compost, and other materials to the pit once it has been filled-in completely. This is to make sure the soil on the site will restore nutrients giving way to reforestation.
Plants endemic to the area will then be planted to bring the back the original landscape of Panian which included open grasslands and an assortment of trees and shrubs.
In line with this, Semirara implemented initiatives of reforestation within the mining complex planting one million trees as of June 2018 using species of trees such as beach agoho, narra, and molave among others.
On the shore of Semirara Island, on the other hand, surviving mangrove trees planted by the company reached 650,000 hills spanning over 196 hectares as of June 2018.
Meanwhile, the company has another project called the Semirara Marine Hatchery Laboratory which has produced over 144,000 giant clams that are unable to thrive in polluted areas due to its water sensitivity.
The Panian pit was put to closure in September 2016 after DOE certified the mineral coal depletion in the area. Since then, Semirara proceeded to rehabilitate the Panian pit and moved to Molave and Narra pits to continue their mining operations.
