PASAR to resume operations by mid-year

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines — The Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp (PASAR), in Isabel town in Leyte province, the country’s only copper refinery, will resume operations in either June or July this year, according to J. Paul Tan, PASAR assistant vice president for industrial and community relations.

Tan said that, after six months of non-operations and with the near completion of the refurbishing of the plant’s anti-pollution devices, there is no reason for the continued stoppage of operations.

While Tan admitted that the company was caught short by the six months shutdown, PASAR was still able to fulfill its commitments in Europe and the United States.

The plant’s anti-pollution devices were destroyed by a fire last January resulting in the stoppage of operations.

PASAR, operating in an 80-hectare site within the Leyte Industrial Development Estate (LIDE) in Isabel town, has been producing copper cathodes for export since 1976 where 720,000 of copper concentrates are processed yearly. The plant has an annual capacity of 215 tons of copper cathodes. —From the wires (FREEMAN)