Greenstone Resources Corp., a wholly-owned unit of TVI Resource Development (Phil.) Inc., on Saturday voluntarily suspended operations of its Siana Gold mine in Surigao del Norte after the embankment in one of its tailings storage facilities collapsed, resulting in mudslides that claimed several houses in Barangay Siana in Mainit town.
“Fortunately, there were no reported casualties arising from the incident due to the immediate evacuation,” Greenstone said in a statement. It said the evacuees are now housed in the gymnasiums of Mainit and its neighboring town of Tubod.
Greenstone said the suspension of mining operations will help expedite its emergency response activities, to closely examine what has transpired, and to ensure the absolute safety of its beneficiary communities.
The Provincial Risk Reduction and Management Office of Surigao del Norte said that pre-emptive evacuation of Barangay Siana prevented casualties that would have resulted due to the landslide. Gov. Robert Lyndon Barbers have visited evacuations centers as he led the search and rescue team.
Greenstone believes a series of earthquakes and recent torrential rains have contributed to the weakening and failure of the tailing storage facility’s embankment.
The company said repair and reinforcement of the tailing facility’s embankment have been done in recent days after it received reports of cracks on the road that ran on foot of the tailings facility.
The company said it will rebuild the households that have been damaged and provide all the necessary assistance to the affected community in order to bring their livelihoods and living conditions back to normal.
Greenstone successfully commissioned its process plant in December 2022. It now conducts open pit mining at Siana Gold but all eventually transition into underground mining.
