Lafayette may resume Rapu-Rapu mining operations by end-March

Lafayette Philippines Inc. (LPI) expects to resume its Rapu-Rapu mining operations in Albay by the end of this month after it complies with all the conditions set by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for it to continue its mining activities.

"We have completed five of the six conditions that were asked of the company and we expect to complete the construction of the expanded tailings dam in two to three weeks’ time," said Carlos G. Dominguez, president and chief executive officer of LPI.

He said another requirement – acquiring an International Organization for Standardization or ISO 14001 certification – can only be done once the company resumes its operations. The ISO is the world’s largest developer of standards. The standards developed are useful to industrial and business organizations of all types as well as to governments and other regulatory bodies.

"That takes awhile to complete, but the rest of the conditions have all been complied with," stressed Dominguez. He said the other requirements which they have complied with are: the submission of a comprehensive pollution control program which will include specifications on the budget and the antipollution facility it will use; a surety bond equivalent to 25 percent of the total cost of the pollution control program it will undertake; a detailed description of the interim remedial measure to mitigate the pollution caused; and proof of employment of a pollution control officer accredited by the DENR, and compensation plan for affected residents.

Bayani Agabin, chief legal counsel of LPI, said the dam wall was raised to 135 meters from 127 meters while the base of the dam was also widened, along with the expansion of the tailings ponds.

"We want to ensure the structural integrity of the dam and the company has commissioned experts to make sure that the elevated dam can withstand strong rains," said Agabin.

LPI is hopeful the DENR will allow it shortly to resume its operations in Rapu-Rapu.

"We are eager to re-start our operations but before we do that, we want to make sure that the previous incidents won’t ever be repeated. We will re-open if we ourselves are satisfied with our standards, and not just because we have complied with all the DENR conditions," said Dominguez.

The mining company is anxious to resume operations which was suspended since late October last year by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) in Region 5 after two mining spill incidents which leaked about five cubic meters of mine effluents containing cyanide into nearby creeks. The PAB order stated that Lafayette will not be allowed to operate and discharge wastewater until the full rehabilitation of its settling ponds and polishing and events ponds.

Lafayette was supposed to have started last December the operations of its base metals plant that is projected to process 10,000 metric tons (MT) of copper concentrates and 14,000 MT of zinc concentrates yearly. On the other hand, its gold plant is projected to produce 50,000 ounces of gold and 600,000 ounces of silver annually during the entire six-year mine life of Rapu-Rapu.