Panian Mine Rehabilitation

Panian mine is the first large-scale open-pit mine in the Philippines to be fully rehabilitated by a mining company. After its 16-year mine life, we completed its backfilling in 2022, significantly ahead of its 10-year mine rehabilitation plan. We are the only mining company in the country to have accomplished a mine restoration program of such scale.

Panian mine spans 400 hectares with topographic elevations that ranged from 300 meters below sea level (mbsl), roughly the height of a 90-story building. SMPC allocated 11.5 million man-hours to fill the pit with over 452 million bank cubic meters (bcm) of earth material, which is enough to fill 217,000 Olympic-size swimming pools.

Transforming the mined-out area from an elevation of 260 meters below sea level to 5 to 11 meters above sea level, we have cultivated a rolling terrain with over 400,000 seedlings of endemic and native trees.

We undertake a responsible, science-based program that ensures sustainable restoration and beneficial land use after mining operations have ceased.