Apex finds high-grade gold at Maco mine

MANILA, Philippines – Apex Mining Co. Inc. disclosed yesterday that the results of its first drill hole at its Maco mine in Compostela Valley yielded high-grade gold deposits.

In its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Apex said the drill hole, which represents the start of a detailed 18-month program, “intersects high-grade gold in a previously untested extension of the Bonanza vein.”

The company added that the mineralized zone “contains highly anomalous gold mineralization averaging 209.5 grams per ton of gold.”

The company is aiming to increase its gold output to 25,000 ounces this year. In the first half of 2010, Apex jacked up its output by 41 percent to 12,142 ounces.

Apex said it would gradually hike ore production from underground mining operations, from 500 million tons per day to 700 million tons by September.

The mining firm earlier said it would spend $64.2 million to expand the capacity of its mine.

Mindanao Gold Ltd., a Malaysian company, has acquired early this year Canadian mining firm Crew Gold Corp.’s 28 percent stake in Apex.

Apex has been capital deficient in the past years, incurring a deficiency of P469 million in the first nine months of the year as against P425 million as of end-2008.