Celebrating people-centered progress and sustainable growth in mining
The TVIRD Group’s Emergency Response Program provides its own personnel with first aid and emergency response training, ensuring precise and deliberate rescue operations in times of crisis.Baguio City, Benguet / 22 November 2025 – During the mining industry’s yearly red carpet ceremony for excellence in environmental management and safety, TVI Resource Development Philippines Inc. (TVIRD) once again celebrated a double victory as its Siana Gold Project and Balabag Gold and Silver Project were both feted with the Presidential Mineral Industry Environment Award – a coveted distinction among the country’s major players who gathered in Baguio City for the annual sortie.
In line with tradition, the event was held at the CAP Convention Center last Friday, November 21, culminating the weeklong Annual National Mine Safety and Environment Conference, which gathered thousands of participants from the local extractives industry and its allied service providers.
The event’s vast participation was driven by the resurgence of mining in the Philippines. This revival can be attributed to several factors, including robust global markets and legislative support through a new fiscal regime, which has significantly contributed to restoring trust, confidence and stability in an industry that was previously kept at arm’s length.
The TVIRD Group is honored to play an active role in the Philippine mining space. And with the recent Presidential Awards, its commitment to further cultivating healthy, thriving communities is celebrated. The same commitment is likewise deepened by the growth of its communities whose employment, livelihood, education and social infrastructure are propelled by its mining operations.
“The burden of responsibility is bequeathed upon a mining company… We embrace this responsibility and have integrated this into our plans for overall development” – TVIRD President Michael G. Regino”
Honor begets responsibility
It is not the TVIRD Group’s first rodeo, grandstanding aside. Nor is it its first time around the corral.
Its maiden Canatuan Gold-Silver/Copper–Zinc Project was a Platinum and Titanium Awardee during its early years, while its recent Agata Nickel Laterite Project was honored with the Presidential Award three times by the Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association. Agata also went on to corner an ASEAN Mineral Award – its first international award – placing next to the behemoth PT Antam of Indonesia.
“The burden of responsibility is bequeathed upon a mining company when it operates in the hinterlands. Over time, communities grow reliant on the company,” explains TVIRD President Michael G. Regino.
“Where employment is a mutual covenant, the mining company simply needs to broaden its support during extraordinary situations like the pandemic, when it takes a surrogate role to its host municipalities. We embrace this responsibility and have integrated this into our plans for overall development,” said the chief executive.
Greenstone’s road to sustainability
Since the first Earth Day in 1970 and the subsequent founding of the UN Environment Program, “sustainability” has become a byword for balancing economic growth with minimal environmental impact over the long term. For a mining company, it involves operating with environmental awareness and social responsibility as well as ensuring long-term viability — a challenge TVIRD has faced head-on as it took the reins of Greenstone Resources Corporation to operate the Siana Gold Project in Surigao del Norte.
Since its acquisition in 2021, Greenstone’s sustainability roadmap has been clear: recommission the plant by 2022, process marginal ore in 2023, then resume commercial operations the following year. But destiny had other plans.
After receiving the “clean and clear” from the previous operator, the TSF3 incident in May 2024 was neither anticipated nor expected. The frequent seismic activity and intermittent weather in the region around that time also did not help.
Greenstone’s first responders and barangay officials cordoned off the area and evacuated the immediate community at the first sign of a possible break. And as the inevitable happened, the incident fortunately registered zero casualties and injuries as the people were already out of harm’s way.
Governor Robert Lyndon Barbers expressed his compliments to Greenstone for its swift action in evacuating residents during the incident and likewise validated the safety protocols that both the company and the Province of Surigao del Norte have in place.
A year later, an ornamental park was inaugurated where fortified embankments for TSF3 were constructed. It is a constant reminder of the company’s men and women whose firm resolve and decisive actions averted a possible disaster. A new relocated housing project now also hosts the former affected community from Barangay Siana, whose livelihood and employment were likewise restored.
“…a company will not be judged by the onset of a crisis, but rather, to the degree to which it responds and takes responsibility for it.”
From crisis to recovery
At the height of the incident, the company immediately activated its emergency response protocols, conducted a thorough review of what had transpired, and ensured the absolute safety of its beneficiary communities. After all, a company will not be judged by the onset of a crisis, but rather, to the degree to which it responds and takes responsibility for it.
With fortitude, strategic foresight, and an unwavering commitment to health and safety, Greenstone quickly regained its footing and transformed environmental management from a regulatory requirement into a hallmark of excellence and innovation. Moreover, it took bold strides to align its operations with national and global sustainability goals.
“Before the (awards) validation, we told ourselves that this comeback is personal — not just to me, not just to the management, but to each employee who witnessed the challenges we hurdled. How we stumbled today, and how we strived to get back up the next day,” expressed Greenstone President & General Manager Engr. Anthony B. Quijano.
This incident reinforced that the company’s safety systems are not just theoretical frameworks, but as living, functioning safeguards proven under real-world pressure.
Its holistic environmental framework is grounded on ISO 14001:2015, which ensures the company proactively mitigates ecological impacts throughout its mine life. It has also transformed once-disturbed lands into thriving ecosystems with a vision for post-mining landscapes anchored in its Environmental Framework Plan and Life Cycle Perspective. Beyond reforestation, it inspires a deeper understanding of resilience and environmental recovery.
“With our grit – to push ourselves daily to become the most responsible mining company, to challenge our resilience on our daily journey, to wholeheartedly show our commitment to safety and health, environmental stewardship and our to stakeholders – these drive us to work every day with a sole purpose in our mind: that every job we do is a self-portrait of who we are,” declared Quijano.
Balabag transforms an entire community
To say that nothing came easy for the Balabag Project’s inception may be the understatement of the decade. Prior to the company’s entry into its mine site in Bayog, Zamboanga del Sur, the entire town was overwhelmed by decades of unregulated artisanal mining that left Balabag Hill literally like an overgrown anthill.
The first order of business following its acquisition was a massive environmental cleanup and addressing safety issues – fixing un-engineered mine shafts and decontaminating tributaries laden with cyanide, mercury, and nitric acid that caused substantial damage to the natural environment and took years to undo. Then the real work began.
Understandably, the abanteros (small-scale miners) were less than motivated by the company’s proposed employment and livelihood programs, since they were accustomed to gambling on safety for the chance to become instant millionaires. Ultimately, they were convinced that the risks they were taking were not commensurate to the potential income that their occupation then presented.
Fast forward to 2021, Balabag began commercial operations with direct markets in Oceania and Asia. Despite the pandemic, the town of Bayog was also on the road to development with the construction of new social infrastructure, a school building, roads, water systems, and a future tribal hall for the company’s indigenous Subanen community.
Driven by the successes of Agata and Canatuan before it, Balabag was hyped. More than ever, it was committed not just to replicate, but to surpass current benchmarks in all phases of its mining operations and ensure a future of success, excellence and sustainability.
Directly following its first year of operations, the Balabag Gold and Silver Project passed the PMIEA validation. They were honored with a Presidential Award for their high safety and health standards and excellent environmental management practices. It is likewise a significant first for the TVIRD Group to receive such a distinction so quickly after a project’s infancy, surpassing its usual best in all categories.
“The driving factor in winning this award is the single direction that we have in our minds: to reclaim the glory that the Balabag Project is a mining company that truly goes beyond compliance,” said TVIRD Balabag General Manager Noel Manrique.
The project currently has a spotless record with no notice of violation – yet another milestone in non-lost-time incidents and continuous compliance with its ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management System.
“With our strong adherence to the law, our systematic approach aligned with ISO, our compliance with the framework of Towards Sustainable Mining and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, we ensure that every step we take is in the right direction – that every decision we make is a conscious one. This holistic approach instills confidence in our stakeholders,” Manrique concluded.
“TVIRD has seen greatness in its people: its first responders in times of crises, its key officers who continue to challenge the tried-and-tested, and its communities who continue to strive to rise out of poverty.”
Thriving communities
At the heart of Balabag’s success are its non-tribal communities and indigenous hosts, who are on a path of self-determination, supported by livelihood and education. Much like Siocon, which was raised from a fourth-class municipality to first-class status owing to the success of the Canatuan Project, Bayog was likewise elevated from third to a first-class municipality due to the increased economic activity brought by TVIRD’s mining operations.
To Agata’s credit, the towns of Tubay and Santiago were also raised from fourth to first-class municipalities. At the same time, Jabonga progressed from fourth to second-class status – further validation that TVIRD’s approach to social progress is the right one. From this, the company draws confidence in bringing the same transformative program to Siana in its host municipalities of Tubod, Mainit, and Alegria in Surigao del Norte.
To date, Greenstone has supported the development of Mainit from fourth to third class status, and of Tubod from fifth to fourth class status. A work in progress, for sure. But definitely, in the right direction.
In no small measure, the TVIRD Group has faced considerable obstacles and managed to land on higher ground. From environmental challenges, to a polarizing pandemic, to an averted disaster, it has gone from crisis to recovery and graduated with distinction.
According to The Twelfth Night, some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. TVIRD has seen greatness in its people: its first responders in times of crises, its key officers who continue to challenge the tried-and-tested, and its communities who continue to strive to rise out of poverty.
All these continue to drive the TVIRD Group and keep it on the path to excellence.
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