Benguet bags water supply concession for Baguio

Benguet Corp. has bagged the contract to undertake a bulk water supply project in Baguio City for 25 years.

The project, awarded by the Baguio Water District (BWD), would require an initial capital requirement of P2.8 billion.

Under the contract, Benguet will supply 50,000 cubic meters of treated water per day to Baguio. It will source the raw water from a proposed seven million-cubic-meters capacity reservoir to be converted from the company’s mined-out open pit in Antamok, Itogon, seven kilometers from Baguio City.

Benguet Corp. said it will construct a treatment plant near the reservoir to provide potable water and develop the surrounding area into a protected watershed.

The company is now awaiting from BWD the schedule of contract finalization and execution. The project is expected to be implemented by the fourth quarter of 2005.

Benguet Corp. said that aside from being a viable business undertaking, the bulk water project can also be a mine rehabilitation solution. The open pit Antamok gold mine was operated by the company for six years until its suspension in 1998 as it was no longer found viable.

Benguet Corp. said the conversion of the open pit to a water reservoir and development to watershed of the adjacent area are consistent with the policy of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for sustainable management of resources.

In the letter certification issued on July 31 by Horace Ramos, director of the DENR-Mines & Geosciences Bureau, the project was endorsed as a preferred mine rehabilitation option which is in consonance with the policy of the MGB that "land disturbed by mining be rehabilitated to a more productive and beneficial land use."

"This is the first time that a novel approach to mine rehabilitation and decommissioning is being applied to mined-out areas. This activity is a part of the company’s commitment to corporate social responsibility and sustainable development," Benguet Corp. said.

Once fully operational, the company’s bulk water project will supply not only the water requirement of Baguio City but more importantly, it will meet the need for safe and potable water of the surrounding communities of Itogon, its host municipality.

Benguet’s long-term plan is to develop its other permitted water sources in the region to be able to service the water needs of other towns like La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablang and Tuba. The strategy is part of its overall vision to be a pioneering, natural resource development company.

Benguet Corp. was organized in 1903 to primarily engage in gold mining. It first expanded into chromite production in 1934 and then into copper production in 1971. The company’s gold mining operations are conducted in Benguet province and the chromite mining operation in Masinloc, Zambales. From 1980 to 1997, the company conducted copper mining operations in San Marcelino, Zambales.

After restructuring its diversified operations and consolidating its resources following the turbulent financial climate of the 90s, Benguet transformed itself into a total natural resource development and services company. Alongside its core business of mining and mineral exploration, the Company and its subsidiaries are actively engaged in real estate development, forest management and eco-tourism, while maintaining interests in allied industries such as steel casting, trucking and warehousing, trading, engineering and construction services.