Dizon Copper-Silver Mines, Inc. said Friday its board approved a proposed rehabilitation plan for its Bayarong tailings dam, whose ultimate goal is to the extract residual gold and other minerals from the mine waste.
The three-year restoration plan starts this year and will cost an estimated P25.5 million, the listed company told the Philippine Stock Exchange.
The rehabilitation plan includes environmental impact assessment, remedial techniques, and community engagement strategies, which the board deemed feasible.
The Dizon porphyry copper-gold mine operated between late 1979 and 1997, a period when a total 110.03 million tons of ore contained 749.8 million pounds of copper and 1.91 million ounces of gold. The open-pit mining operation closed in 1997 after a spill of mine wastes.
The Bayarong tailings dam, located in San Marcelino, Zambales, contains an estimated 47 million cubic meters of mine waste.
