Semirara’s P291B mine expansion gets DoE approval

Semirara Mining and Power [SCC 37.90 ?0.3%; 111% avgVol] [link], the dividend darling and Golden Goose of the Consunji Family, said it received Department of Energy (DoE) approval for SCC’s proposed coal mine expansion that will cost the company an estimated P291 billion. According to the Philstar.com article, SCC received formal word of the DoE’s approval back in “December 2024”. The expansion is intended to allow SCC to replace the production from the Molave coal mine that was depleted in 2023, and of the Narra coal mine, which is expected to be depleted next year.

  MB BOTTOM-LINE:  This is a pretty big deal. Not in terms of SCC’s stock price, but in terms of its ability to get shovels in the ground to make sure it has a steady supply of coal as it depletes its existing open pit mines of the commodity. That’s a pretty material thing, so it’s curious to see SCC drop a mention of that “December 2024” approval in a February 26 article, and then have to wait until a day later for SCC to confirm. This is something that should probably have been said publicly before this. It’s possible that the DoE’s approval was of secondary importance to something bigger, but I don’t know what that would be. The DoE is the government agency that most directly regulates SCC and its plans.