Semirara pins high hopes on Bobog mine

MANILA, Philippines - Consunji-led Semirara Mining Corp. said its Bobog mine in Antique has “sizeable resources with coal quality that is marketable locally.”

Citing a technical report on the Bobog coal deposit dated Sept. 10, Semirara said the mine showed a resource estimate of 27.5 million metric tons of measured coal and nine million metric tons of indicated coal.

The major producing seams of the Panian coal deposit also show significant volumes in the Bobog area, according to the report.

“To improve the database, specifically making the core recoveries compliant with international standards, a majority of the drillholes have to be redrilled,” the report said.

About 59 drillholes have been programmed for redrilling, 35 of which had already been re-drilled.

“The sizeable resources merit the preparation of a mining feasibility study. However, the feasibility study should be undertaken subject to confirmation of preliminary data from the results of redrilling,” the report noted.

Semirara, the largest producer of sub-bituminous coal in the country, began exploring for coal in the Bobog area in 2008. To date, 75 holes have been drilled in the area. However, the core recoveries from the drillholes are not up to international standards. Out of the 75 drillholes, only 19 had coal recoveries greater than or equal to 90 percent.

Semirara currently holds a coal operating contract which encompasses 13 coal blocks covering 5,500 hectares on Semirara Island, nine coal blocks covering 3,000 hectares on Caluya Island, and 12 coal blocks covering 4,200 hectares on Sibay Island.