Isabela Coal Mine

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Isabela Coal Mine is a proposed coal mine in Cauayan, Benito Soliven, Naguilian, Isabela, Philippines.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Isabela Coal Mine	Cauayan, Benito Soliven, Naguilian, Isabela, Philippines	7.686594, 122.975834 (approximate)

The map below shows the approximate location of the coal mine:

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Project Type	Opening Year	Closing Year
Proposed	Permitted	New	–	–

Table 3: Operation details

Note: The asterisk (*) signifies that the value is a GEM estimated figure.

Capacity (Mtpa)	Production (Mtpa)	Year of Production	Mine Type	Mining Method	Mine Size (km2)	Mine Depth (m)	Workforce Size
–	–	–	Surface	–	90	50*	*

Table 4: Coal resources and destination

Total Reserves (Mt)	Year of Total Reserves Recorded	Total Resources (Mt)	Coalfield	Coal Type	Coal Grade	Primary Consumer/ Destination
25	–	–	–	Lignite	Thermal	Isabela power station

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
PNOC Exploration Corp	PNOC Exploration Corp [100%]	Philippines

Note: The above section was automatically generated and is based on data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker April 2024 release and the September supplement.

Background

Isabela Coal Mine (also known as COC 122) is a proposed coal mine in the province of Isabela, Philippines.

It was intended to be a mine-mouth coal mine for the Isabela power station. Coal Operating Contract (COC) 122 is located approximately 400 kilometers north of Manila and straddles portions of Cauayan City and the municipalities of Naguilian and Benito Soliven, all within the province of Isabela, in the Cagayan Valley Region.

The Philippine National Oil Company Exploration Corporation (PNOC EC) was awarded the project in 1997 and acquired the Environmental Compliance (EC) certificate for both the mine and the associated power plant in 2010. In December 2020, the Municipal Council of Benito Soliven passed a resolution endorsing its full support of the Project, and the pre-development activities commenced in 2021.

COC 122 has proven reserves of over 25 million metric tons of lignite coal in a mineable area covering about 2,000 hectares. According to the PNOC EC, this is enough to fuel a 100 MW (megawatts) mine-mouth power plant for 25 years.

In 2022, the Company applied for a license extension for COC 122, according to PNOC-EC's 2022 Annual report. The capacity of the proposed coal mine was not known.

As per 2023 PNOC EC annual report, the project faced several challenges over several years. In June 2023, PNOC EC made a final attempt to secure a contract extension for COC 122. Cauayan City and the Municipality of Benito Soliven had already endorsed the project in previous years. However, in December 2023, the contract expired, and the DOE officially informed PNOC EC of this, closing this chapter of the company's coal projects. The project's status was therefore revised to Cancelled.

• Owner: Philippine National Oil Company Exploration Corporation (PNOC-EC)
• Parent Company: Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC)
• Location: Cauayan, Naguilian and Benito Soliven Municipalities, Isabela Province, Philippines
• Coordinates: 7.6866, 122.9758 (approximate)
• Mine Status: Cancelled
• Start Year: TBD
• Production Capacity:

• Total Reserves: 25 million tonnes
• Coal Type Lignite
• Mine Type: Surface
• Mine size: 90 km2
• Source of Financing:

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Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of world coal mines, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Mine Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.