Philex reports mill plant breakdown at Padcal mine
PHILEX MINING CORP. said operations at its Padcal Mine in Benguet were disrupted after a structural support failure occurred in a section of its mill plant, negatively affecting daily production.
The milling plant processes ore from underground mining through a sequence of crushing and grinding stages for further mineral processing.
The company said the failure occurred on Sunday at the tertiary bins of the Secondary and Tertiary Crushing (STC) system.
The incident affected the vibrating screens of the tertiary crushers and misaligned the connecting conveyors, leading to the shutdown of the entire STC system that feeds the grinding section.
Philex said it is implementing an alternative milling process at reduced capacity using unaffected facilities, while engineering assessments and repairs are ongoing to restore normal operations.
“There are sufficient ore underground to feed the mill using the unaffected underground Cable Hauled Conveyor system. However, the breakdown of the STC system at the Mill plant will significantly impact the current production level,” the company said.
Philex reported no injuries, fatalities, or environmental impacts from the incident.
The Padcal mine, which Philex has operated since 1958, has undergone several mine-life extensions to optimize existing mine and mill facilities.
The company said operational challenges associated with an aging mine continue to affect its operations.
At the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, Philex shares fell 7.14%, or 82 centavos, to close at P10.66 apiece.
Philex is one of three Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and PLDT Inc.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel
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