Philippines' DoE lifts Panian mining ban: UpdateOREANDA-NEWS. Operations at the Panian mine owned by Philippine coal producer Semirara are to resume after the country's Department of Energy (DoE) lifted a two-month suspension in the wake of a fatal landslide.

All operations at the mine were put on hold after a 17 July landslide killed nine workers, forcing Semirara to halt all exports in an attempt to avert a domestic supply shortfall. Semirara supplies six domestic utilities with combined coal-fired generation capacity of 1,500MW on Luzon and the Visayan islands.

The Philippines' Department of Environment and Natural Resources last month lifted a cease and desist order that it had put in place on the mine following the incident, although it remained closed pending a wider investigation.

But the DoE has now also given the go-ahead for mining operations to resume, stating that that the company "has substantially complied with conditions, resulting in a marked improvement in the level of safety in its mining operations". But operations will be subject to regular monitoring to ensure compliance, the DoE said.

A prolonged suspension would have posed a risk to the country's energy security as base-load power plants are predominantly coal-fired, accounting for 40pc of the country's power supplies, according to the DoE.

Semirara operates three mines in Antique province that produce coal with a calorific value (CV) between 4,055-5,500 kcal/kg. Panian — the country's sole large-scale open-pit mine — produces medium-grade coal with a CV of 5,200 kcal/kg and is responsible for 92pc of the country's total coal output.

Semirara sells thermal coal from the mine to buyers throughout Asia-Pacific. Export destinations include China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand, India and Cambodia. It produced 8.5mn t and sold 8.89mn t of thermal coal last year, with nearly 60pc exported. The mine sold 7.63mn t in 2013.