Photo Credit: Panay News

Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Alfonso Cusi said the country may expect additional 7,712 megawatts of power supply from 2021 to 2027.

During President Rodrigo Duterte’s Talk to the People late Thursday night, Cusi said the construction of new power sources is underway this year and in the coming years to augment the needed power requirements as the Philippine economy continues to expand.

He said between 2016 and 2020, installed capacity grew from 21,424 MW to 26,287, increasing by 4,863 MW.

Cusi added that the energy stakeholders have been preparing for the anticipated depletion of the Malampaya natural gas field through building new liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities and exploration of indigenous power sources.

By next year, two LNG projects are expected to go online—the LNG project of AG&P and Osaka Gas by the second quarter and the LNG facility of First Gen and Tokyo Gas by third quarter, Cusi said.

“Aside from LNG, we continue to pursue the exploration of our indigenous resources like gas and oil in the West Philippine Sea,” the energy chief said in Filipino.

He added five service contracts were awarded since the government lifted the ban on exploration activities in the West Philippine Sea last year.

“The agency has recommended the awarding of four more service contracts for exploration in the West Philippine Sea,” Cusi added.

He said the DOE continues to partner with the international community to study potential power sources in the future.

The DOE has partnered with Australian and Japanese firms to study hydrogen as the fuel of the future.

Cusi said the Nuclear Energy Program Inter-Agency Committee is also looking into the potential of nuclear energy to be part of the country’s energy mix.

He said the DOE assures there is a sufficient supply of power across the country, additional power capacity to be installed in the coming years amid the growing demand, and lowering power rates.

 

Article Courtesy of the Philippine News Agency

A new iconic bridge in Manila is set to open to motorists in the first quarter of 2022.

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar said that installation of fabricated precast concrete slab panels that will serve as main bridge carriageway of the P3.39 Billion Binondo-Intramuros Bridge Project are now nearing completion.

As of to date, the workers observing safe workplace protocols have performed controlled precast slab installation process on the assembled steel beams of the steel arch bridge which has an already completed sling cable tensioning components, Secretary Villar added.

In his report to Secretary Villar, Undersecretary for Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Operations Emil K Sadain said that the project is about 77 percent complete and DPWH UPMO Roads Management Cluster 1 is vigorously following up request with Meralco to move or relocate distribution poles and overhead high tension lines that pose serious safety concerns in the on-going construction of ramps in Binondo and Intramuros area.

Undersecretary Sadain together with Project Manager Melchor Kabiling conducted actual field assessment on problem regarding the existing Meralco and Telco lines which will be affected by the launching of steel box girders for the down-ramp along Estero De Binondo towards Plaza del Conde and Rentas Street and the relocation of affected lines along Muelle de Binondo (near San Nicolas Fire Station) and Rentas Street where the down-ramp of the bridge project will be connected.

Of the 135 bored piles for abutments, piers and ramps, 114 were already completed with the remaining 21 mostly at the Estero De Binondo area.

The presence of powerlines and other utilities along Estero de Binondo at the north approach bridge posed serious challenges in the tight schedule to complete the new bridge.

Construction of the 680 lineal meter basket-handle tied steel arch bridge connecting Intramuros (at Solana Street and Riverside Drive) and Binondo (at San Fernando Bridge) with a viaduct structure over Estero de Binondo is financed by a China Aid Grant.

The steel arch main bridge 70 meters in length and a width of 21.65 meters has the following components at Binondo side: two (2) north approach bridges made of composite steel box girder 330 meters right on-ramp and 200 meters left off-ramp; one (1) 88 meters right on-ramp north approach bridge with reinforced concrete slab; and one (1) 98 meters left off-ramp north approach road with mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) retaining wall.

At the southern part in Intramuros are 111 meters right on-ramp and 81 meters left off-ramp south approach road with MSE retaining wall; and 80 meters right on-ramp and 83 meters left off-ramp bridges.

Although the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the jobsite activity, the DPWH and contractor China Road and Bridge Corporation is taking pro-active and preventive measures for workers in accordance with the construction health and safety guidelines issued by Secretary Villar especially with the heightened restriction because of so much transmission of the COVID19 viruses and the Delta variant, added Undersecretary Sadain.

The government, through the Department of Energy (DOE), has received nearly PHP1.7 billion in royalty payment from integrated energy company Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC) for the second quarter of the year.

In a statement Tuesday, SMPC said this is the highest quarterly royalty payment to the government after the firm recorded a revenue of PHP14.8 billion from April to June 2021.

SMPC’s revenue in the second quarter of 2021 was supported by all-time high coal sales and higher average selling prices.

Of the PHP1.7 billion turned over to the government, PHP1 billion will go to the national government that can be used to fund programs to fight coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Some PHP666 million will go to local government units (LGUs) that host SMPC mine sites --PHP136 million for the province of Antique, PHP300 million for the municipality of Caluya, and PHP230 million for Barangay Semirara.

Under the Local Government Code of 1991, host LGUs of petroleum, coal, geothermal, hydrothermal, and wind facilities shall receive 40 percent of the royalty proceeds.

“The pandemic has taken a significant toll on our country. We hope that our contribution can help boost our government’s response against Covid-19,” SMPC president and chief operating officer Maria Cristina Gotianun said.

SMPC is the country’s lone power producer that mines its own fuel source --integrating its coal mining and power operations to create a local value chain.

Based on its website, SMPC generates 900 megawatts of power with an additional 1,200 MW of coal-fired power in the pipeline.

San Miguel Corporation’s (SMC) airport and aerocity project in Bulakan, Bulacan will be a pacesetter for green cities that are both sustainable and equitable, one that aims to address social and environmental concerns that affect even the country’s major financial districts today.

This, according to the country’s top urban planner and green architect Felino “Jun” Palafox Jr. who outlined some of the major features that he and SMC president Ramon S. Ang envision for the much-anticipated development in Bulacan.

Palafox Associates has been tapped by SMC to help masterplan its airport plus city concept or “aerocity” development--where its massive, P740-billion airport project, the New Manila International Airport will be located.

Comparing the Bulacan project to environment-enhancing developments in Dubai and other parts of the world, Palafox said the development will integrate the best practices in green, sustainable, and disaster-resilient architecture that he has advocated and implemented in some 1,700 projects in about 45 countries worldwide.

Palafox said the new development will take advantage of SMC president Ramon S. Ang’s forward-thinking and bias for taking action to undertake projects without cost to the government.

“I’m aligned with the mission, vision and goal of Ramon Ang. He invited me to partner with him in this new undertaking: a green aerotropolis. At Palafox, we’ve analyzed that we need at least 100 new cities all over the Philippinex by 2050. If we don’t do it, our cities will become as bad, if not worse than Metro Manila. We envision the Bulacan Aerocity development as the first model and pacesetter for future green and sustainable cities in the country” Palafox said.

For his part, SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang said that the project will be a legacy project, not just of him and Palafox, but of the present generation to future generations of Filipinos.

“I want to emphasize to our countrymen that what we are building is more than just an international gateway with four runways, with an infrastructure network to connect it directly to Metro Manila and many other points in Luzon. The airport is just one component-- what we’re building is the Philippines’ first truly green city of the future,” Ang said.

“We see this project as a silver lining amid all the difficulties we face today because of the pandemic. All Filipinos are looking forward to a future where COVID-19 is less of a threat to our lives and our economy. We want to see the positive developments that lie ahead for our country. I believe this is one of the best things we can look forward to with much hope and optimism,” he added.

Ang also touted the significant economic impact the project will have on the country and the Filipino people.

“Airport cities around the world generate a significant amount of jobs, and that is ultimately what we want to do. We need jobs and opportunities for our countrymen today, but more importantly, for the next generation in the coming years, especially since we are trying to recover from a pandemic,” Ang said.

He added that “The jobs we will generate will not be limited to the airport city, or Bulacan province alone, but will extend to neighboring provinces, the rest of Luzon, and many other parts of the country which will benefit from increased tourism, increased investments because of better accessibility.”

Ang also said that he and Palafox have agreed to integrate best practices in green architecture, green urbanism, and green urban planning to the Aerocity development, and avoid the mistakes that have contributed to the present-day problems of the country’s biggest cities today.

Metro Manila: What went wrong

Palafox pointed out a number of contributing factors that have made life difficult for many people working in today’s primary business districts, which the Aerocity project will aim to address.

“The mistake in Makati’s central business district, Bonifacio Global City, and Ortigas is exclusionary or discriminatory zoning--excluding the employees from their places of work. Employees are like OFWs in their own countries, because they are five to six hours away from their places of work and families, because of traffic congestion,” Palafox said.

“Before, real estate criterion was always location, location, location. Now, it’s more than location; it’s accessibility, accessibility, accessibility, and mobility, mobility, mobility. That is why the infrastructure that both government and private sector companies like SMC are doing now, are very welcome, as they alleviate the traffic that many people have no choice but to endure,” Palafox added.

Palafox related that in 1990, Makati reclassified and increased the density of the Makati CBD by four times. However, access capacity and mobility was not similarly increased four times.

Adding to the problem is the fact that the CBD is constricted by gated, low-density neighborhoods, villages, and a gated cemetery--making it more difficult for most people to walk to work.

“Elsewhere in the world, NYC, European cities, Singapore, are ‘walkable’ because within 250-750 meters, there is a walking facility. Around Makati City, BGC, and Ortigas, you’re surrounded by gated communities, so you have to walk about one to two kilometers to go around. Our planning in the Philippines had the wrong model: Los Angeles, which was designed for automobiles,” he explained.

He also cited the prevailing influence of Spanish rule as a constraint.

“I’m talking about the colonial town plaza concept, where the elite or illustrados lived around the town plaza where the church, munisipyo and central park are. Meanwhile, the peasants or indios and Chinese merchants lived in extramuros, or outside. That was 500 years ago, but it’s still a concept in our urban planning development today,” he explained.

Enhancing the environment

Meanwhile, for Ang, apart from generating jobs, one of the most important considerations for the project is improving the environment--not just within and around the airport project, but throughout Bulacan province.

“From the very beginning, I promised Bulakenyos and all our stakeholders in government that the airport project and the aerocity development will have significant benefits for the province and the whole country. We will make sure to do everything right, because this is our biggest investment to date, and our legacy to the next generations,” Ang said.

“Specifically, we will clean up the environment, clear the river systems to enable water to flow freely again and address flooding; we will establish mangrove forests, with some 190,000 mangroves all over Bulacan and neighboring provinces to enhance biodiversity and help mitigate tidal flooding. We’re also looking to develop and enhance natural habitats of marine and bird species. There’s so much more we can do,” he added.

For the development itself, Ang said he and Palafox look to integrate the following concepts:

Adopt green architectural and green urbanism guidelines over and above the country’s building and zoning codes, which Palafox said no longer follows international standards.

• Follow the structural codes of other countries, specifically those situated in similar earthquake zones as the Philippines.
• Creation of an “innovation hub” where both learning institutions and technology-driven global companies can thrive. As such, Palafox has put forth a “town and gown” or university town concept, where learning institutions and the community partner together, such as in Cambridge and Boston in the United States, where Harvard University is. SMC is also looking to put up a medical and research facility along with the school.
• The aerocity project will be equipped with the latest in digital infrastructure, to enable people to work and conduct business anywhere.
• The development will also have lots of open spaces, as these are the “lungs” of a city. Palafox cited that Metro Manila went from green to gridlock because many parks and open spaces were reclassified into sellable and buildable properties. As the population grew, the parks and open spaces started disappearing.

Meanwhile, the aim for the Bulacan development is to allot highest and best use for the improvement of the environment, and to address climate change. These will be included in his proposed guidelines for green architecture and green urban planning.

Ultimately, the plan is to positively impact the whole of Bulakan, Bulacan so that in the end, Bulacan will not just be a province with an airport, but an airport-driven province.

In master-planning the development, “ridge to reef” planning will also be employed, taking into consideration the improvement of mountain ridges or highlands, midlands, the lowlands, and the coastline.           

Public transport will also be easily accessible. One of the things being considered is a bicycle highway connected to the train system.

Palafox said the city will be a “healthy city”. It will be “walkable and attractive”. It will have less need for security because it will be open and there won’t be too many walls around the city, which Palafox sees as encouraging crime, and contributing to the heat index, as they obstruct cross ventilation in cities.

Meanwhile, the coastal area or Manila Bay waterfront will also be utilized for walkways, waterfront promenades.

Finally, Palafox and Ang said they will prioritize the triple bottomline: people first for social equity, alleviating poverty, and job creation or inclusivity. Then planet and the environment come next, with prosperity, economic growth, and profit following.

 

Article Courtesy of San Miguel Corporation 

San Miguel Corporation has announced that the first batch of trains for its Metro Rail Transit (MRT)-7 project is set to arrive in the country from South Korea next week, even as work continues for the completion of the much-awaited mass rail project. 

The trains, which consist of six cars or two trainsets procured from South Korea’s Hyundai ROTEM, have cleared inspections and factory acceptance testing, with the country’s national rail manufacturer, Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL), serving as SMC’s adviser. 

Each trainset is 65.45 meters long -- or well over the entire length of an Olympic-size swimming pool, which is 50 meters.

“The timely arrival of these brand new, high-quality trains from South Korea --known as one of the world’s best train and rail systems builders -- is such a welcome development, and I believe holds a lot of significance. At a time when many are feeling uncertain about our country’s future because of the pandemic, this shows that the job of nation-building continues; that the work of improving our infrastructure, boosting our economic growth prospects, and investing in our country’s brighter future, also doesn’t stop -- especially for us in San Miguel,” SMC president Ramon S. Ang said in a statement Wednesday.

Ang said more trains are set to arrive in the following months, up to next year, until all 108 cars or 36 trainsets the company acquired are delivered. 

Despite continuing pandemic restrictions and pending right-of-way (ROW) issues, the project itself is now at over 54 percent completion, with installation of bored piles, girders, and other foundational works on a significant portion of the project, already completed. 

“Right now, construction activities on the guideway and the stations are ongoing. Electronic and mechanical works also continue. As we said before, the MRT-7 project is in many ways more difficult and complex than even our recently-competed Skyway Stage 3 -- which in itself is an engineering feat,” he said.

Ang said MRT-7 has added complexities such as electric power systems, computer and communications systems, signaling systems, and automatic fare systems, among others. 

“There are many causes of delay, from necessary pandemic restrictions, to ROW issues, but as with all SMC projects, we apply 110 percent effort to all the areas we can work on, so as to minimize delays. The most important thing is we don’t stop, we keep on progressing. We thank our national government, especially President (Rodrigo) Duterte, the DoTR (Department of Transportation), the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways), and the LGUs (local government units) of Quezon City and Bulacan, for their continuing support for this project,” Ang added. 

Earlier, SMC reported that manufacturing of other important equipment needed for the MRT-7 which were all sourced from various countries has also been completed. 

Various other railway operations equipment such those needed for automatic fare systems, communication systems, signaling systems, power supply systems, third rail, track works systems and rolling stock maintenance equipment --used for the maintenance of trains-- are also set to be delivered from various countries throughout the year. 

The first test run of the project is set for December 2022.

The PH-EITI National Conference 2021 was held last July 29 with the theme "Resiliency in Transparency". 

 

PH-EITI or Philippine Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, is a government-led, multi-stakeholder initiative that implements EITI. The initiative started on 26 November 2013 under Executive Order No. 147, series of 2013. It is a government commitment first announced through EO No. 79, s. of 2012. The initiative aims to promote the open, accountable management and good governance of oil, gas and mineral resources industries. The three-hour webinar/conference featured various keynote speakers.[1]

 

“This is the second year that we are holding this meeting online due to the pandemic. This underscores the exceptional circumstance under which we have to operate into the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, I congratulate the EITI for its efforts to organize this national conference and produce an annual report despite all the challenges.” This was part of the Opening Remarks given by Hon. Carlos G. Dominguez, Secretary of Department of Finance.

Pacaya volcano is one of the most active volcanoes in Guatemala and in Central America. It is 2,500 meters high and located 30 kilometers south of Guatemala City and close to Antigua. It was dormant for more than 70 years but started erupting again in 1961, and has been erupting often ever since. In March 2021, it had two strong explosions. After four months of being calm, it showed some activity again last August 5; however, it was a low-level activity.

David Garcia, a 34-year-old accountant, saw the fiery mountainside as an opportunity to make “Pacaya Pizza”. While lava was oozing down the volcano, the glowing volcanic rocks fascinated tourists and locals.  

Cooking pizza using volcanic rocks is a practice that Garcia first tried in 2013. This year when Pacaya was regularly erupting, he cooked pizza directly on the moving lava flows.

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On June 12, 2021, three DD210 drills arrived in Apex Mining Company Mine site in Maco, Davao de Oro. The three Drills were opportunity won first quarter this year, kudos to our Equipment Sales Engineer, Justin “Jap” Palino, for this big win of equipment sales.

The Units were welcomed by Apex Mining Site officials and Sandvik Service team present on site. On same day, units were unloaded from the container, travelled, and temporarily parked on Apex Mechanical workshop area where the unit commissioning activity will be done. Sandvik data collection device was installed on the units, ready to connect on Sandvik’s Digital solutions.

Apex Mining Company has already connected 4 of their existing units (2 LH307 and 2 TH320) to our My Sandvik Productivity and looking forward for these three units to have linked and generate operating reports on the dashboard.

Sandvik team prepared a traditional celebration called “Cañao”, a ritual were animals such as pigs are served for good harvest, progress, and safety. Three pigs were prepared and distributed in all Apex site departments. Also, a small feast was organized on our Sandvik site office, following minimum covid-19 safety protocols and guidelines.

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As a fresh batch of ducklings hatch in an eclectic farm in Taganito Mining, so begins the important step towards fulfilling a dream of having a balut production farm within the mine site.

Filipinos love balut.  As a matter of fact, balut is associated with the Pinoy’s exotic palate and is accepted as a national delicacy in the Philippines, our “national street food”.

The town of Pateros in Taguig City is the acknowledged balut capital of the country but agriculturists in Taganito Mining Corp. (TMC) believe that there is a big market for balut in Claver, Surigao del Norte, so they started to dream of having their own balut production as means of livelihood for the communities in this mining area. 

“Our main goal is to assist our partner communities and teach them to become producers of balut in the whole of Claver and adjacent towns, with lower prices so people can afford and enjoy balutproduced in their own backyards,” says Danding Elizalde, Agriculturist at TMC and the project’s overall coordinator.

A likely recipient of the balut production technology that TMC is developing is the Sapa Integrated Farmers' Association (SIFAS), one of the people organizations (POs) that TMC supports under the mining company’s Social Development Management Program (SDMP).  SIFAS already has a duck farm but they are selling their egg produce until they are able to produce balut to sell.

“TMC is our biggest support in terms of funding and know-how and we cannot wait for our dream to have a balut production here in Claver,” says Mr. Virgelio Buyan, SIFAS President.

The critical first step is to grow a healthy batch of “breeders”.

Elizalde says that Ducks are one of the simplest animals to raise.  They are resilient against unpredictable weather changes and do not consume a lot of time to nurture and grow.

TMC, a subsidiary of Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC), has always been on the lookout for sustainable community projects to develop and to pass on to the residents of the company’s host communities, and the Environmental Department of TMC that takes care of the protection and enhancement of the environment in the mining communities came upon the exciting idea of balut production. 

“After the initial learnings, we’ve warmed up to the system of caring for the ducks and we found out it’s a piece of cake really as we do the feeding and cleaning of cages in between our daily activities and would take turns in collecting the eggs that would be laid during night,” shares Elizalde.

“It is very important to document every challenge we’ve encountered,” says Vince Ivan Libao, OIC-Environmental Manager for TMC, and Elizalde’s immediate superior.

One of the bigger hurdles was when TMC did not have an incubator. The eggs would be sold to employees every time because it was difficult to hatch them into ducklings since mother ducks would not warm on their eggs and there were bush rats that feed on them at night.

“We could not grow healthy breeders because we could not hatch most of our eggs so an incubator became a necessity so we had one fabricated in Surigao City for P60,000 pesos” explains Libao.

But with an incubator, TMC started producing ducklings and perfected the system that now produce fertile eggs with better hatchability rate with the target to produce 500 ducklings in the next few months.

At the moment, TMC is able to hatch 60 ducklings at a time and is getting nearer to the realization of its dream of having an efficient balut production farm.

TMC mine site is located in barangays Hayanggabon, Urbiztondo, Taganito and Cagdianao, in the municipality of Claver, province of Surigao del Norte.  Its area of operations is within the Surigao Mineral Reservation. 

 Cleanout of Coal Mine Settling Ponds

A large Indonesian mining corporation operating an-open-pit coal mine in a remote part of South Kalimantan, Indonesia, faced a problem on how to dewater silt sediments from settling ponds that had reached their capacity.

As part of the settling ponds cleanout efforts, a TenCate Geotube® dewatering facility was constructed to contain and dewater sediments extracted from the ponds. In total, more than 300 Geotube® dewatering tubes have been used to dewater more than 1,000,000 m3 of slurry containing 170,000 m³ of dry solids annually.

To optimize land space the Geotube® dewatering tubes are stacked up to seven layers high based on standardized units with a circumference of 36.6m and lengths between 17.4m to 61.4m to create large solid landfill structures

THE CHALLENGE

The problem facing the mine was how to deal with high volumes of silt in evaporation ponds. The silt, originating from a mix of wastewater from the mines open pits as well as eroded silty rainwater runoff from within the mine catchment area, discharged into the ponds rapidly filling the header ponds before overflowing and clogging adjacent ponds.

Initially, the problem was solved by constructing new ponds until there was a shortage of free land space. Cleaning the ponds required a constant combination of silt dredging and truck relocation in a constant cycle to prevent runoff with high levels of suspended solids (TSS) discharging into and polluting adjacent river channels.

As silt levels in the ponds increased, the cost of dewatering ponds became prohibitive, requiring a more proactive and cost effective permanent Geotube® dewatering solution.

THE DESIGN

To prove the effectiveness and viability of TenCate Geotube® dewatering tubes, a series of on-site evaluation tests was undertaken. Firstly, a series of Rapid Dewatering Tests (RDT) was conducted to determine the most suitable polymer, the optimum polymer dosage and estimate the final end-of-dewatering solids concentration. Figure 1 and 2 shows the RDT test being undertaken and the effluent and dewatered solids captured.

Secondly, a pilot tube trial was conducted using a few scaled-down Geotube® units that would simulate actual process conditions. The pilot trial validated the results of the RDT evaluation and was used to quantify information and operational implications that was then used in the final project design. Figure 3 shows the pilot trial set-up which utilized a Geotube® GT 500D fabric with a circumference of 13.7m and length of 30.6m.

The pilot trial Geotube® units was laid out over a membrane lined platform to reduce ground infiltration of the effluent. The slurry pumped into the Geotube® units was dosed with polymer at the rate determined earlier by the RDT test. Figure 4 shows the final dewatered cake achieved in the pilot trial Geotube® units.

THE CONSTRUCTION

A Geotube® dewatering facility was constructed to contain and dewater slurry extracted from the ponds. Construction of the dewatering pad started in August 2015.

Prior to placement of the Geotube® dewatering tubes, the surface area of the land was levelled and cleared of sharp objects such as rocks, roots etc as shown in Figure 5a. The pad preparation included the placement of a LDPE liner, drainage trenches, HDPE piping, manifolds and flexible hoses. A working space of about 5m was also allocated between the edge of the tubes and drainage for the operators as shown in Figure 5b.

The first layer of Geotube® GT500D with a circumference of 36.6m and length of 61.4m was installed. Slurry was then pumped into the Geotube® dewatering tubes from a floating dredger in the ponds at a flow rate of 350-500 m³/hour in a 10-hour operation daily. The polymer used was a cationic flocculant injected at a dosage of 1.5 to 3.0 kg/MTds that was into the slurry prior to delivery into the Geotube® dewatering tubes.

The maximum filled height was 2.65m and the final height after consolidation was 1.8m. After the initial Geotube® dewatering tubes have been consolidated, the following layer was then installed (Figure 5c). This process continued until seven layers of Geotube® dewatering tubes was installed. Effluent discharged from the Geotube® dewatering tubes was pumped back into the settling ponds.

THE PERFORMANCE

The Geotube® dewatering technology installed in this largescaled project has proven to be a highly effective and efficient solution with significant benefits in cost savings and environmental sustainability. The design of stacking seven layers of Geotube® dewatering tubes enabled land space to be well optimized while harnessing the performance of Geotube® technology.

Geotube® dewatering technology improved the water discharge quality by substantially reducing the total suspended solids (TSS) being discharged back into the ponds with its ability of achieving high rates of solids retention and effluent discharge as compared to the previous dewatering methods used.

The solids contained in the Geotube® dewatering tubes also eliminated the risk of rainfall erosion and silt runoff. Presently, the solids in the Geotube® dewatering tubes are being reclaimed as infrastructure earthworks fill, reducing carbon footprint while returning a revenue contribution to the mine operations.

This project has the distinction of being one of the biggest Geotube® dewatering projects ever undertaken in the world providing a wealth of knowledge on the economics of extreme large scale Geotube® dewatering

Photo Caption: Our future. Children study and play at the Canatuan Elementary and National High School – an institution that TVIRD helped build during its operations in the area from 2004-2014, and from which time the company has been the host municipality’s strongest partner in promoting responsive education. (TVIRD file photo)

Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte / July 2021 – She knows what it is to be poor at a young age, being born to poor parents and raised by a single mother who died while she was in her primary years.  The harrowing experience of being bullied because of poverty made Joanamarie Gabayan vow to have a stable job in the future.

At 19, she fulfilled her promise to herself and joined the academe where a decent, fulfilling and stable job as a professional teacher awaited her.

Joanamarie, “Joan” to family and friends, earned her degree in elementary education in 2015.  She took and passed the professional board examination for teachers then and landed a teaching job the following year – thanks to the scholarship program of TVI Resource Development Philippines Inc. (TVIRD) in Canatuan.

Now 25 years old and already married, Joan is currently teaching the Subanon children at Barangay Tabayo Elementary School of this town.  Assigned as an Indigenous People Education (IPEd) teacher by the Department of Education (DepEd), she instructs her pupils on basic education that is responsive to their context, respects their identities and promotes the values of their indigenous knowledge, skills and other aspects of their cultural heritage – all in line with DepEd Order 50 series of 2016.

Looking back at her humble beginning, Joan said she is forever grateful to the company that helped her realize her dream. “I could not have reached this far without TVIRD,” she said.

Giving back

Police Corporal Rasul Agang, also a former scholar of the company agrees with her. A graduate of BS in Criminology at a state university in Siocon town, Corporal Agang is now proudly serving his “kababayans” as a member of the Siocon Police Station.  At 27, Rasul said he “walks the talk” of the PNP Motto which is to “Serve and protect.”

A son of a fisherman, Rasul shared that ever since he was young, he wanted to become a police officer. “That was my dream, and I was able to achieve it through the help of the company.  I am always proud of being a scholar and part of the TVIRD family, knowing that it is a responsible mining company,” he said.

Rasul cited TVIRD’s ongoing final mine rehabilitation in Canatuan, which started in 2016.  The program consists of “re-greening” and restoring the company’s former mine site to its former condition and covers all disturbed areas during its 10-year mining operations from 2004.

Equally thankful is geologist-scholar Ryan Lumabi, also a Subanon from Sitio Canatuan.  Ryan currently works as a project geologist at Premium Megastructures Inc. in Misamis Oriental.

“I just want to say thank you very much to TVIRD for making my dream possible.  It really was impossible for me to reach my dream given that we were poor.  But (they) gave me the opportunity to study and graduate as well as assisted me financially while taking the board examinations,” he said. 

Investing in education

“TVIRD believes that education plays a vital role in empowering its Subanon partners; hence, the company must invest on it,” according to TVIRD President Yulo Perez who was then Canatuan General Manager who institutionalized the company’s College Scholarship Program in early 2005.

According to him the program seeks to provide the poor but deserving Subanons with access to education so they will be able to help the tribe’s elders in managing the development of their homeland – all according to their needs and outlook, and within their cultural and traditional framework.

Also included in the grant were underprivileged but deserving non-tribal scholars residing within the immediate community and the host municipality of Siocon.

From 2004 to 2020, TVIRD spent more than Php11-million pesos for its scholarship program.  The amount is on top of the construction cost of the first school buildings and library of Canatuan Elementary and National High School as well as the salaries of both school’s first four school teachers.

TVIRD also provided school buses for the pupils and students of both schools. The first bus could accommodate 48 passengers and ferried the children as far as Sitio Kilometer 8, a sub-village of Kilalaban of the neighboring town of Baliguian, and Sitio Paduan of Barangay Candiz in Siocon town.

When TVIRD concluded its Canatuan operations in 2014, it also produced professional teachers, nurses, midwives, civil engineers, agriculturists, geologists, an environmental engineer, a forester and a member of the Philippine Navy.

Geologist Ryan Lumabi mentioned earlier that the education provided to him by the company gave him the fighting chance to reach his dream.

“Mining may cease, and TVIRD may eventually leave Canatuan.  But the education it provided will live on in the hearts of its scholars whose lives were touched and changed for the better,” he concluded.

With global OEM production slow-moving due to the pandemic and secondhand equipment prices reaching new heights, Ritchie Bros. Senior Territory Sales Manager Chris Edwards is encouraging consignors in the Philippines to bring their assets to market.

Chris Edwards, who is based in Manila, was appointed at the beginning of 2021 to accommodate rising demand in the Philippines.

“Ritchie Bros. has a long-standing reputation in the Philippines. The first Ritchie Bros. auction ever hosted in Asia was in Subic Bay in 1994. We pioneered the auctioneering business in the Philippines with permanent live auction sites from 1994 to 1999, now we’re back with a new office in Manila to support buyers and sellers in the Philippines” said Mr. Edwards.

“We have returned to the Philippines as the global market appetite for used equipment and machinery has burgeoned over the last 18 months with no sign of demand slowing down.

“Philippine mining companies have experienced record-breaking quarters and rising commodity prices. This is a great time to bring used equipment to our global market and get the best possible price. We continue to secure great results for mining companies across Asia through our various sales channels.

“We have Territory Managers all throughout the Asia-Pacific region ready to help consignors get the best price for their used equipment. As world-leading asset remarketers, with expertise on the ground, our comprehensive sales solutions give consigners a choice of selling solutions through Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers unreserved auctions, IronPlanet reserved auctions, or our 24/7 Marketplace-E.” 

Ritchie Bros. sold more equipment and machinery in 2020 than any other auction company. The Covid-19 pandemic has continued to accelerate acceptance of large-scale online equipment sales and purchases. Since shifting to exclusively online auctions, the market leader has continued to see record-breaking bidder participation, strong buyer demand, and outstanding results for sellers.

Need help selling your assets? Contact Chris Edwards on +63.917.149.8545 or cedwards@ritchiebros.com

​

Tailings dams are the most common means of waste disposal in the mining industry because of their ability to hold huge amounts of material, as well as cost effectiveness. Tailings dams can represent an ongoing liability, long after mine operations cease and facilities are closed and reclaimed. There is a global drive to ensure tailings dams are engineered during construction and evaluated for closure following the end of production.

A tailings dam failure is defined as a physical breach of the dam followed by uncontrolled and typically sudden release of stored materials (e.g., fluids, tailings, sludge, etc.). There are several cases per year of significant failures, with many of these claiming lives. As an industry, we have a duty of care to improve approaches and ensure risks are lowered. Often complacency in operations and storage with an approach of “doing the minimum’’ is not the best practice, and every engineer and organization must do better to raise the bar and protect the lives and environments surrounding these often huge structures.

In the Philippines, with our frequent and often severe earthquakes, tailings dams require robust engineering, high quality monitoring and civil, geotechnical and environmental engineering assessments to ensure the sites are stable long after a mine is a distant memory.

Stability assessments referred to as a Tailings Dam Breach Analyses (TDBA) are a common approach to investigating tailings dams, and this requires detailed, high quality site investigation works. This is where RDCL provides various geotechnical and geophysics techniques that feed engineering data into ground models for breach analyses.

The most common forms for geotechnical investigations are drilling and installation of ground water piezometers. RDCL takes intrusive testing beyond drilling with highly accurate Cone Penetrometer Testing (CPT) and seismic testing.

The cone of the CPT rig is made up of load cells or pressure sensors, collecting a variety of data used directly in engineering calculations. CPT testing is calibrated to international standards, and is repeatable. The data is digital, and the quality control checks during testing removes the risk of collecting poor data, leading to poor engineering assumptions.  Do it right to design it right, remove the requirement for over-engineering which can lead to significant cost increases.

RDCL operates GeoMil CPT rigs in Philippines and has tested to 68 m below ground in tailings dams. Typically, CPT tests reach depths of 20-30 m. In one day 6-8 CPT tests can be completed, pending site constraints.

The CPT rig also has options to deploy seismic geophones, soil samplers and electronic shear vanes, all of which allow discreet soil testing at specific depths. These additional tools, all part of the Geomil suite of equipment allow in-situ measurements of soil characteristics targeting specific layers within tailings, often to determine liquefaction risk.

RDCL often recommends more than CPT and drilling data across tailings dams, as both techniques are vertical datasets, effectively creating a series of pin-point datasets across often very large areas. This leads to interpolation between datasets, and generalization of ground features.

Surface seismic testing can provide 2D profiles across tailing dams, linking drilling or CPT data creating with good visualizations improving the understanding of soil characteristics across sites.

Two common seismic methods are used;

• MASW (Multi-channel Analysis of Surface Wave), deliver Shear wave (Vs) data
• SRT (Seismic Refraction Tomography), delivers compressional wave (Vp) data

The deployment of surface seismic methods typically involving a long seismic array of 24 to 48 geophones in a straight line and seismic shots (mostly via a sledge hammer), which propagate along and through the ground generating profiles as shown in this article.

Engineering modulus and Poission’s ratio are a common output from seismic surveys. And ground water levels are also derived, via the compressional wave velocity (Vp). A measure of 1500m/s Vp in soils indicates the soils are >99% saturated – and may be prone to liquefaction.

Seismic Refraction Tomography (SRT) is a good way to define the saturation level of soils, 1500m/s Vp indicated >99% saturation. This provides are very useful “delineation” of where tailings materials may liquefy. This interface between dry and saturated tailings allows determination of groundwater level geometries.

Multi-channel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) can provide information on the internal structure of enclosing material, as shown in the equations above. The Vs of soils increases as soil stiffness increases. A high Vs means a higher shear strength. When an earthquake shears the ground, soils with a low Vs are more prone to liquefy if they are silts and sands.

In summary tailings dams are not naturally occurring, consolidated deposits. They are often accumulated in very short time scales and can be prone to failure.

If Tailings dams are engineered, monitored and have robust testing techniques described here, we, as an industry, can lower the risk of catastrophic failures improving the lives of everyone involved working on them and living around them.

​

In my previous column, I had mentioned that, in the Stakeholders’ Forum on Recent Policy Issuances Relating to Mining conducted by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) last June, hopes were raised that the ban on open pit mining would finally be lifted.  In response to a question in the open forum, MGB Director Wilfredo Moncano stated that the repealing clause of the draft Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Executive Order No. 130 (EO 130) would refer to Department Administrative Order 2017-10 (DAO 2017-10) on the ban on open pit mining.  Thus, while EO 130 itself does not explicitly refer to the lifting of the ban on open pit mining, the intent was to lift it since, in the proposed IRR, Section 11 referred to the repeal of the said DAO.

Administrative Order No. 2021-25, or the IRR of EO 130, which was published on 08 August 2021, and which will take effect 15 days therefrom and registration with the Office of the National Administrative Register, did not repeal DAO 2017-10 or mention open pit mining at all, dashing any expectation that the ban will be lifted during this administration, notwithstanding the professed objectives of, among others: promoting direct investment for significant economic benefits of the country; ensuring adequate raw materials to support the various government projects, such as the Build, Build, Build Program and the mineral and allied industries; and promoting the development and increasing of employment opportunities in remote rural areas where there are mining activities in support to the Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa Program the government.  All of these laudable objectives would be met if only the long-stalled priority open pit mining projects were allowed to proceed to operate.

On the positive side, with respect to the grant of new mineral agreements, upon effectivity of the IRR, all qualified applicants for a Mineral Agreement may now file their applications pursuant to Department Administrative Order No. 2010-21 and Republic Act No. 11032 (the Anti-Red Tape Act).

Further, the permittee of an existing Exploration Permit with an approved Declaration of Mining Project Feasibility (DMPF) may apply for a Mineral Agreement and submit to the MGB Regional Office concerned within 90 days the mandatory requirements outlined in the IRR.  If complete, the MGB Central Office, 15 days from receipt of the Mineral Agreement application, shall review and shall endorse the same, to the DENR Secretary, for approval and issuance of the Mineral Agreement.

It must be noted that new Mineral Agreements shall include a stipulation that they shall adhere to the existing revenue sharing scheme and to any future legislation pertaining to revenue sharing, taxes, fees, royalties, and charges.

Previously, I also touched on how artifical intelligence (AI), which is defined as the ability of a digital computer or computer-controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings, such as learning from past experience, is creeping into many aspects of how we do our work.  Repetitive tasks, or those which may be done more efficiently are seen as better done by AI.  The mining industry,  where efficiency and productivity are paramount, has made profitable use of AI throughout the world.

In Bagdad, Arizona, for example, data scientists, metallurgists, and engineers from Freeport-McMoRan created a custom AI model at a copper-ore concentrating mill in 2018 which was loaded with three years’ worth of operating data. It was programmed to look for operational tweaks to boost output. Thirteen monitors were placed in the control room to show readings from hundreds of performance sensors located around the mill.  Over time, the collected data were used to maximize copper production at a reasonable cost, with little new capital investment.  The team created, tested, and refined algorithms that would look into the data and recommend settings to maximize the copper output.  Their prediction model, called “TROI”, became so agile, that it was capable of issuing recommendations every 12 hours.

Though not initially reliable, “TROI” was continuously improved by the team such that its recommendations became more plausible, to the point that 80% of its recommendations were accepted by the company’s metallurgists. The mill’s production substantially increased in just four quarters with its throughput exceeding 85,000 tons of ore per day, while its copper-recovery rate rose by 10% and its operations became more stable.

In Canada, the government utilizes AI to promote clean, sustainable growth of its mining sector competitiveness by reducing costs and increasing productivity through automation. It recognizes that innovation may lead to increased efficiency and productivity, reduced costs, and improved environmental performance.  The Canadian government is now using machine learning to develop better models for the prediction of rock type and economical mineral deposit locations for extraction purposes without engaging in time and resource-intensive approaches.  It also uses AI to map Canada’s water and infrastructure, and to improve its ability to create geospatial data layers which can be used for emergency management, flood mapping, and change detection.

In the Philippines, despite rapid technological developments, there are currently no government issuances governing the use of AI-related technologies in the mining industry.  Nevertheless, the DENR appears to recognize the impact that AI can make in preserving and protecting natural resources as it recently partnered with SMART and PLDT to protect peatlands in the Philippines using AI solutions.

Outside the mining industry, other government agencies, notably the Department of Trade and Industry considers AI as a “nation defining capability” as it created an AI Roadmap to provide an actionable guide on how to “harness AI’s potential to uplift Filipinos, our local industries, and our economy.” It is geared towards preparing the nation to maximize the benefits of employing AI technologies.   The Philippines is supposedly among the first 50 countries in the world to have a national strategy and policy on AI. Such a policy is touted to increase the Philippines’ gross domestic product by 12% by 2030 as the roadmap can establish the Philippines as an “AI Center for Excellence in the region” and be a “hub for data processing” which can provide high-value data analytics and AI services to the world.

The trouble with such projections and roadmaps is that, unless they are acted upon, and until we stop shooting ourselves in the foot, they remain aspirational.  We have roadmaps for practically every industry, yet we have spent decades going around in circles instead.  Back in 2004, a Mineral Action Plan for the revitalization of the mining industry had already been put in place to implement Executive Order 270 (The National Policy Agenda on Revitalizing Mining in the Philippines). The DENR was to be the lead agency in crafting and implementing a strategic plan, in consultation with the other concerned agencies, such as, but not limited to, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of Finance, the National Economic Development Authority, the National Anti-Poverty Commission, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, the mining industry and civil society.

Despite the fantastic roadmap laid out, and three administrations later, we all sadly know what followed next: the saga of Executive Order 49 and all the other monkey wrenches thrown in, which prevented the approval of new mining agreements and projects from proceeding for many years.  While this may be oversimplifying all the myriad challenges the mining industry has faced, instead of trying to find new solutions to age-old problems, it may be worth taking a second look at prescriptions that may have been there all along.  Unfortunately, rare is the administration that considers and implements the plans and strategies of the previous ones, no matter how well thought out, for the simple reason that it is ‘contra-partido’ or someone else’s idea, which is why our country has not fared as well as others in the execution of long-term strategic plans. 

The issuance of Administrative Order No. 2021-25 is undoubtedly a welcome development, but the road (though paved with good intentions) is still littered with obstacles, many of our own making.  As we soldier on, I cannot help but wonder whether it is AI that can help humans truly learn from past experiences by warning us against committing the same mistakes and allowing us to make better decisions, or humans should finally just face up to the consequences of our folly.  

​

 Considered a mix of science and art, flotation is the most widely used process for extracting vital minerals in the modern mining operation. As the amount and type of froth changes from cell to cell, the best recovery systems must be able to accommodate variable froth conditions, otherwise valuable materials end up being lost to tailings.

Newer technologies eliminate the guesswork previously associated with flotation, and the latest advancements allow for adapting to the unique conditions within each cell. This improves control of the froth phase and directly affects the mine’s ability to recover either higher volumes or higher grades.

As a leading innovator in froth recovery, FLSmidth has created a Froth Recovery Upgrade package that provides customers with more control, resulting in better overall metallurgical performance. The package includes four critical technologies:

1. A level sensor with a robust design and no moving parts, which accurately senses the depth and level of slurry within the cell.
2. Actuators that receive data from the level sensor and adjust the dart valve position to maintain slurry levels.
3. Radial froth crowders to reduce top-of-froth surface area and facilitate movement to the nearest radial launder.
4. Froth cameras, which measure the froth’s velocity and stability and can also infer the froth grade.

Ideally, a flotation operation would utilise all four technologies to achieve optimal recovery; however, the full package can be segmented and installed as individual components, based on customers’ needs. This flexibility, and the real-world customer results, are illustrated by the examples below.

Customer 1 – Level Sensor and Actuator

A large copper mine in Peru approached FLSmidth to increase recovery in an 8-cell flotation bank. The mine’s existing equipment for monitoring slurry levels and controlling dart valves lacked consistency, which caused large deviations in level control. The lack of control and stability reduced overall copper recovery and had a significant impact to the bottom line.

Every large fluctuation in level control resulted in two scenarios: First, the cell level would become too high, and pulp would overflow into the launders, resulting in unacceptable grade. Then the level would drop too low and result in little to no recovery of the froth phase, impacting overall recovery.

Data from the condition monitoring system revealed an opportunity for improvement, as shown in Figure 1. Sporadic movement of the actuator (blue) caused unstable deviations to the slurry level (green), causing it to fall short of the target level (yellow) needed for optimal performance.

FLSmidth engineers recommended installation of new level sensors and FESTO actuators. The customer agreed to replace its current equipment, and the upgrade yielded immediate improvements. Following the retrofit, slurry levels showed significantly higher stability and remained consistent within the target level, shown in Figure 2.

After a month with the new equipment, slurry levels consistently remained on target. As a result, the customer recovered 0.5% to 0.8% more copper than previously possible with the older equipment. Based on the short-term results, the customer anticipated replacing the remaining flotation cells in the entire plant with new level control. The mine’s return on investment was less than three months.

Customer 2 – Adjustable Radial Froth Crowders

Another copper mine in Peru consulted with the FLSmidth Flotation team to improve its froth phase control and improve performance of its rougher flotation circuit. The customer was seeking a low-capital solution using its existing equipment and opted to install FLSmidth’s Adjustable Radial Froth Crowders.

Installation of the crowders required no cutting or welding and was completed during a scheduled downtime. With no required permanent structural changes to the cell, modifications could easily be reversed if the customer chose.

After installation of the package on just one row of its rougher flotation cells, the customer noticed significant improvements to its operation. Operators were able to decrease reagent consumption, increase the froth phase depth by 3 to 10 cm, and ultimately improve the downstream operations by stabilising concentrate mass flows. With the economic gains seen from the retrofit’s improved performance, the mine retrofitted the remaining two concentrator plants with the same type of adjustable radial froth crowders.

Customer 3 – Froth Camera

A mine in western Canada contacted FLSmidth with concerns about frequent variations in its copper grade, along with low recovery numbers in its flotation circuit. FLSmidth determined that the frequent variations were caused by poor setpoint control and selection, and that a software solution would provide immediate benefits without a large capital investment.  The three-part solution utilised a combination of Model Predictive Control (MPC), fuzzy logic and FLSmidth’s newest technology in froth vision systems, to improve recovery by 4% at the desired grade with less variation.

The first step was to ensure stabile level control throughout the flotation circuit. This was accomplished by controlling the dart valve positions directly using an MPC controller which greatly reduces setpoint error and variation. This process ensures that when a level setpoint is sent to a cell, that the dart valve position will be adjusted to reach the desired level set point in a quick and efficient manner.

A mine in western Canada contacted FLSmidth with concerns about frequent variations in its copper grade, along with low recovery numbers in its flotation circuit. FLSmidth determined that the frequent variations were caused by poor setpoint control and selection, and that a software solution would provide immediate benefits without a large capital investment.  The three-part solution utilised a combination of Model Predictive Control (MPC), fuzzy logic and FLSmidth’s newest technology in froth vision systems, to improve recovery by 4% at the desired grade with less variation.

The first step was to ensure stabile level control throughout the flotation circuit. This was accomplished by controlling the dart valve positions directly using an MPC controller which greatly reduces setpoint error and variation. This process ensures that when a level setpoint is sent to a cell, that the dart valve position will be adjusted to reach the desired level set point in a quick and efficient manner.

Summary

With these advanced level sensors, actuators, radial froth crowders and froth cameras – installed individually or combined as a package – FLSmidth has proven its technology will allow for quicker reactions to flow and slurry density changes, greatly improving the performance of flotation machines. Better froth phase control methods can not only improve metallurgical performance in existing operations, but also allow performance prediction in greenfield operations.

​

 Mining and Exploration

Today, it is crucial to have an in-depth and well-defined understanding of the geological region when targeting and developing prospective sites. Extensive field work is essential to identify economically significant deposits prior to any extraction operation. This includes comprehensive geologic sampling and analysis, which is costly and time consuming when performed with traditional laboratory-based methods.

The Terraspec Halo portable mineral analyzer has made a major impact on mining exploration by providing real time mineralogical information allowing geologists to make more informed decisions; lowering field and drilling costs. When used at an outcrop, at the drilling site, in the core shack, or in the open pit, the TerraSpec Halo mineral analyzer provides the mineralogical information needed to understand the relationship between the potential economic deposit and the local geology and provides the means to use that relationship to better target exploration efforts. As a rapid and reliable analytical technique that requires no sample preparation, it has proven to be an essential tool for field geologists and mine operators.

Advantages:

• Rapid and Accurate Results. Results are presented within seconds and are available for analysis through a range of spectral analysis software. It has 350-2500 nm range which gives full accurate analysis on minerals.
• Point and Shoot, Ease of Use. Handy and can easily bring to the field. Non-technical operators can have used the unit.
• Portable. Both the TerraSpec Halo mineral analyzers are portable devices well-suited for both field, drill site and laboratory analysis.
• Widely Used. TerraSpec instruments are the most widely used spectrometers for alteration zone and gangue mineralogy mapping, whether it is for early-stage target generation or late-stage geometallurgical studies. In production, the TerraSpec Halo mineral analyzer is optimal for a wide range of operations including ore sorting, blending, feed control and tailing monitoring for both heap leach and mineral processing
• Sample Flexibility. Working with a full line of accessories, TerraSpec analyzers are suitable for measurement of outcrops, hand samples, tailings, drill cores, cuttings and pulps
• Non-Destructive Analysis. Materials are analyzed in their original state, intact and unprocessed.

Applications

Exploration

• Geological/deposit field mapping
• Indicator mineral identification
• Mineralogical parameters related to thermal and chemical zonation
• Drill cuttings analysis
• Core logging

Laboratory Analysis

• Acid consumption determination
• Swelling clay assessment
• Gangue mineral concentrations
• Blast chip analysis

Extractive Metallurgy

• Ore sorting and blending
• Block model development
• Improved site mapping
• Agglomeration optimization
• Heap leach optimization
• Flotation feed control

Features

• Minerals and Scalars which includes mineral library and easy to export to 3rd party software such as Aesiris and TSG
• Audio Notes which recording of voice notes while in the field
• Viewing of Spectra which includes viewing of peaks with full range of wavelength numbers to    see the difference of minerals analysis
• Getting your Data which includes synchronization of collected data from Halo to the computer for post processing of results

In Summary,

The ASD TerraSpec Halo and Terraspec 4 Hi-Res and QS7000 line of mineral analyzers provide portable, rapid and non-destructive analysis of minerals in the lab or the field. Exploration geologists appreciate the ASD TerraSpec mineral analyzer’s portability and ability to rapidly identify key minerals. When used as an ore analyzer, results are presented in seconds to speed ore processing decisions.

TerraSpec 4 Hi-Res for High-tech Mineral Exploration

The TerraSpec 4 Hi-Res spectrometer is a portable, rugged analyzer for field mineral mapping and analysis that represents a new generation of high-speed, high-performance field portable analyzers. It provides mineralogy of altered rocks and hence assists in classifying ore systems, identifying alteration patterns and vectoring to areas of potential interest. The ability to rapidly identify and determine key alteration minerals, and in many cases, the thermal and chemical environs of their formation, makes the TerraSpec an ideal tool for field mapping in mineral exploration.

TerraSpec Halo

Terraspec Halo is portable full-range handheld spectrometer that is fast, accurate, and easy to use for the exploration geology market.

QualitySpec 7000 for Measurement of Material Moving on a Conveyor

The QualitySpec 7000 analyzer embodies state-of-the-art spectroscopic technology capable of accurately measuring material as it is transported on a conveyor belt. This stationary unit is designed to produce real-time, accurate data in a non-contact manner for process control. The QualitySpec 7000 system saves significant cost in material sorting and quantifying gangue mineralogy. In copper production, the system monitors ore entering the agglomerator to predict and potentially reduce acid usage, and measures swelling clay content for proper hydration.

Hinatuan Mining Corporation (HMC), a subsidiary of Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC), donates five (5) million pesos for the construction of the first phase of a new Rural Health Unit building in close partnership with Hon. Cesar B. Diaz, Jr., Municipal Mayor of Tagana-an, and Dr. Benjielita P. Notada, Municipal Health Officer (MHO).

“HMC committed a total of 10 million pesos for the realization of the infrastructure. The remaining amount will be released on the first quarter of 2022,” said Dr. Oliver Dennis O. Lao, HMC Admin Manager/Company Physician.

Fund used for the donation is part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fund of HMC.

The construction cost of the RHU building is pegged at fifteen (15) million pesos as per individual work plan. The Local Government Unit (LGU) of Tagana-an will finance the remaining five (5) million pesos of the project cost.

Dr. Notada said that the project will bring positive impact to health care workers and Tagana-an residents, “The completion of the new RHU building will greatly improve the provision of health care services to all residents of Tagana-an. It will bring comfort to both medical and health workers, and our patients in terms of facilities.”

“HMC has been our partner in providing medical services to the people of Tagana-an,” said Dr. Notada. “HMC supported us by providing ambulance, medicines, personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks and face shields, supplies for this pandemic battle and food supplies at the entry checkpoints in our municipality, air coolers, and almost daily food assistance during our COVID-19 vaccination (Resbakuna) activities”, she added.

Dr. Notada also expresses her gratitude to HMC for the support given to her team and her municipality, “We are very grateful to HMC for the constant support they have provided to our medical team The support allows us to deliver the needed health services of the people of Tagana-an. They had been a constant partner in our commitment to bring quality health services to the community.”