6p
The Miners by Solomon Saprid - Singles (100,000)
Graphic Designer: ArtEast Group
Design Coordinator: Edda V. Henson
Layout Artist:
Alfonso V. Divina
First Day Covers: Manila
Benguet Corporation - 100th Year
Benguet Corporation was incorporated on August
12, 1903 by two former American soldiers-mining prospectors and a
soda fountain owner, who were among the many Americans who stayed in
the Philippines after the Spanish-American War. The Company
pioneered modern gold mining operation in the country and ushered
the beginning of the Philippine mining industry. Benguet Corporation
opened its first gold mine in 1906 in Antamok and in 1927 acquired
and operated the gold mines in nearby Balatoc and Acupan, all
located in the Benguet province. It has since expanded into
refractory chromite operation in 1934 and copper production in 1971.
Until the late 1980s, Benguet Corporation was known as the biggest
gold mining company in the Philippines and 16th largest in the
world. Similarly, its chromite operation in Masinloc, known
internationally as "Masinloc Ore", and its highly profitable Dizon
Copper Gold operation in San Marcelino, Zambales were the largest in
the country.
The dramatic and colorful 100-year history of
Benguet Corporation reveals a dynamic organization with a distinct
capability to overcome and survive extremely difficult conditions,
such as World War II, countless natural disasters, political
upheavals and cyclical economic turmoil. As a mining industry
leader, it has produced over 14.1 million fine ounces of gold, 10.5
million ounces of silver, 776 million pounds of copper concentrates
and 15.4 million tonnes of chromite with an aggregate value of US$
7.5 Billion or nearly P400 Billion at current prices. This mineral
production translates into employment of more than 23,000 people, at
the height of its operations, with payroll and fringe benefits at an
annual average of P1 Billion. With its liberal labor policy, the
company provided its mining communities with free housing, water,
power, medical services, elementary and subsidized high school
education. The Company likewise spent some P2.6 Billion for
environmental protection and P824 Million for community services.
Government taxes and duties paid amounted to over P4.7 Billion.
From Benguet Consolidated Mining Company in the
1900s to Benguet Consolidated Inc. in the decades of the 1950s to
1970s, and finally to its present corporate name, Benguet
Corporation, the Company looks with pride at its 100 years of
achievement in Philippine mining history and national life. At the
same time, it views the future with confident optimism - an
operating, forward-looking mining company with new vision and
strategic direction to be a total natural resource development
conglomerate, armed with characteristically pioneering projects in
water resource and land development and in engineering, construction
and technical services, that will sustain its growth and viability
into the next century.