Semirara Mining and Power Corporation

Last updated
Semirara Mining and Power Corporation
FormerlySemirara Mining Corporation
Type Public
PSE:  SCC
Industry Mining
FoundedFebruary 26, 1980;43 years ago (1980-02-26)
HeadquartersDMCI Building, ,
Products Coal
Production output
14.5 million MT [1]  (2019)
Parent DMCI Holdings
Website www.semiraramining.com

The Semirara Mining and Power Corporation (SMPC) is a mining company based in the Philippines. The company, a subsidiary of DMCI Holdings, operates its main coal mine in Semirara Island and is the biggest coal producer in the Philippines accounting for 92 percent of the total national production as of 2015. [2]

Contents

History

The company was established on February 26, 1980 [3] as the "Semirara Coal Corporation" (SCC). [4] The company entered an agreement with the Department of Energy for an exclusive right to develop, explore, and mine coal resources on Semirara Island in the town of Caluya, Antique. [3] The company discovered coal mining sites in Semirara in Unong and Panian. In 1981, coal deposits were discovered in a third site; in Himalian. [5] SCC, along with Austrian state firm Voest Alpine opened the first coal mining site in the island in Unong in 1984. [5]

In 1997, DMCI Holdings, Inc. began acquiring in SCC securing 40 percent of the company's common shares which it bought from Voest Alpine. [5] By 1999, DMCI gained a controlling stake in SCC, introducing a new management to the company which was renamed as Semirara Mining Corporation. [4] It also opened the company's second mining site in Panian in anticipation of the Unong mine's closure. SMC was listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange in 2005. [5]

SMC exported its first coal to China in 2007 and has since then expanded its foreign market to include India, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand. [2]

It changed its name to the "Semirara Mining and Power Corporation" (SMPC) in 2014 to reflect the expansion of its business to include electricity generation on top of its coal mining operations. [3]

SPMC exhausted the Panian mine in 2016, [1] which was replaced by the Narra and Molave mines within the same year. [6]

In 2018, SMPC relinquish its rights to explore and mine coal in Caluya and Sibay Islands, which neighbors Semirara Island. [7]

Coal mining

The Panian site in Semirara Island, which is an open cut mine. ISS023-E-15142 lrg.jpg
The Panian site in Semirara Island, which is an open cut mine.

SPMPC's primary mining site is in Semirara Island where it has operated numerous coal mines. It operated the Unong Pit in Semirara Island until 2000 and the Panian Pit until 2016. It opened the Narra and Molave Pit in the islands as replacements. [1]

List of coal mines

Accidents

In February 2013, at least five miners died after a collapse at the Panian Pit in Semirara Island. [9] Nine miners died in a separate accident in 2015 after a collapse in the same mine caused by a rain-induced landslide. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coal mining</span> Process of getting coal out of the ground

Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United Kingdom and South Africa, a coal mine and its structures are a colliery, a coal mine is called a 'pit', and the above-ground structures are a 'pit head'. In Australia, "colliery" generally refers to an underground coal mine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antique (province)</span> Province in Western Visayas, Philippines

Antique, officially the Province of Antique, is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is San Jose de Buenavista, the most populous town in Antique. The province is situated in the western section of Panay Island and borders Aklan, Capiz and Iloilo to the east, while facing the Sulu Sea to the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Visayas</span> Administrative region of the Philippines

Western Visayas is an administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VI. It consists of six provinces and two highly urbanized cities. The regional center is Iloilo City. The region is dominated by the native speakers of four Visayan languages: Hiligaynon, Kinaray-a, Aklanon and Capiznon. The land area of the region is 20,794.18 km2 (8,028.68 sq mi), and with a population of 7,954,723 inhabitants, it is the second most populous region in the Visayas after Central Visayas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Miguel Corporation</span> Filipino multinational conglomerate

San Miguel Corporation, abbreviated as SMC, is a Philippine multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. The company is one of the largest and most diversified conglomerates in the Philippines. Originally founded in 1890 as brewery in the Philippines, San Miguel has ventured beyond its core business, with investments in various sectors such as food and drink, finance, infrastructure, oil and energy, transportation, and real estate.

The history of coal mining goes back thousands of years, with early mines documented in ancient China, the Roman Empire and other early historical economies. It became important in the Industrial Revolution of the 19th and 20th centuries, when it was primarily used to power steam engines, heat buildings and generate electricity. Coal mining continues as an important economic activity today, but has begun to decline due to the strong contribution coal plays in global warming and environmental issues, which result in decreasing demand and in some geographies, peak coal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surface mining</span> Type of mining in which the soil/rock above mineral deposits is removed

Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in which the overlying rock is left in place, and the mineral is removed through shafts or tunnels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caluya</span> Municipality in Antique, Philippines

Caluya, officially the Municipality of Caluya, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Antique, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 38,908 people, making it the sixth most populous municipality in the province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Pit National Coal Museum</span> Former mine and industrial heritage museum

Big Pit National Coal Museum is an industrial heritage museum in Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales. A working coal mine from 1880 to 1980, it was opened to the public in 1983 as a charitable trust called the Big Pit (Blaenavon) Trust. By 1 February 2001 Big Pit Coal Museum was incorporated into the National Museums and Galleries of Wales as the National Mining Museum of Wales. The site is dedicated to operational preservation of the Welsh heritage of coal mining, which took place during the Industrial Revolution.

Industrial Cape Breton is a geographic region in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It refers to the eastern portion of Cape Breton County fronting the Atlantic Ocean on the southeastern part of Cape Breton Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OceanaGold</span> Gold mining company

OceanaGold Corporation (OceanaGold) is a gold mining and exploration company based in Vancouver, Canada and Brisbane, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kellingley Colliery</span> Former coal mine in North Yorkshire, England (1965–2015)

Kellingley Colliery, known affectionately as the 'Big K', was a deep coal mine in North Yorkshire, England, 3.6 miles (5.8 km) east of Ferrybridge power station. It was owned and operated by UK Coal.

The PSE All Shares Index is the stock index in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) in which all of the stocks traded are included in computations of the level of the index. It should not be confused with the PSE Composite Index which is a weighted index of 30 of the top companies on the PSE.

The Minnie Pit disaster was a coal mining accident that took place on 12 January 1918 in Halmer End, Staffordshire, in which 155 men and boys died. The disaster, which was caused by an explosion due to firedamp, is the worst ever recorded in the North Staffordshire Coalfield. An official investigation never established what caused the ignition of flammable gases in the pit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coal mining in the United Kingdom</span> Fossil fuel from underground

Coal mining in the United Kingdom dates back to Roman times and occurred in many different parts of the country. Britain's coalfields are associated with Northumberland and Durham, North and South Wales, Yorkshire, the Scottish Central Belt, Lancashire, Cumbria, the East and West Midlands and Kent. After 1972, coal mining quickly collapsed and had practically disappeared by the 21st century. The consumption of coal – mostly for electricity – fell from 157 million tonnes in 1970 to 18 million tonnes in 2016, of which 77% was imported from Colombia, Russia, and the United States. Employment in coal mines fell from a peak of 1,191,000 in 1920 to 695,000 in 1956, 247,000 in 1976, 44,000 in 1993, and to 2,000 in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Semirara Island</span> Island in Antique, Philippines

Semirara is an island in the Philippines located at in the Caluya archipelago which is situated south of Mindoro Island. It is under the jurisdiction of the town of Caluya of the province of Antique. It is a major site of coal mining in the Philippines. Other economic activities in the island include fishing, seashell gathering, and farming.

DMCI Homes, Inc. is the real estate arm of DMCI Holdings through its wholly owned subsidiary DMCI Project Developers, Inc. (PDI). It was incorporated and registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 27, 1995. It ranked #146 in the Business World Top 1000 Corporations for 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coal mining in the Philippines</span>

Coal mining in the Philippines has a long history dating back to the 1800s during the Spanish colonization of the islands. The Philippines consumes more coal than it can produce and coal is the main source of electricity. 20% of the country's coal supply is used by the cement industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gina Lopez</span> Filipino environmentalist and philanthropist (1953–2019)

Regina Paz "Gina" La'o Lopez was a Filipino environmentalist and philanthropist who served as Secretary of the Philippines' Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in an ad interim basis under the Duterte administration. She was previously the Chairperson of the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission under two consecutive administrations. Lopez was also a yoga missionary and a pioneer for corporate social responsibility.

The Clover Hill Pits are a number of coal shafts and mines that operated in the Southside area of Richmond, Virginia, from 1837 until around 1883.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Rivera, Danessa (18 January 2020). "Semirara to expand coal mine area in Antique". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  2. 1 2 Macas, Trisha (17 July 2015). "FACTSHEET: The DMCI-owned Semirara Mining Corporation". GMA News. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 "Company Information:Semirara Mining and Power Corporation". PSE Edge. Philippine Stock Exchange. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Business Profile". Semirara Mining and Power Corporation. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Inquirer, Philippine Daily (15 February 2013). "In the know: Semirara Mining Corp". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  6. "Minutes of the Annual Stockholders' Meeting of Semirara Mining And Power Corporation" (PDF). Semirara Mining And Power Corporation. 2 May 2017. p. 3. Retrieved 28 March 2021. ...the Board of Investments approved the registration of Narra and Molave mine projects with full ITH incentives. Both new mines achieved commercial operation last October 2016.
  7. Hallare, Katrina (15 October 2019). "Semirara: We've given up mining in 2 Antique sites since 2018". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  8. "FAST FACTS: Semirara Mining's Panian mine". ABS-CBN News. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  9. Geronimo, Gian (14 February 2013). "Five miners killed, five missing as Semirara coal mine collapses". GMA News. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  10. "OCD: 9 workers dead after Semirara mining mishap". GMA News. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2021.