Philex hikes output by 20%

MANILA, Philippines - Philex Mining Corp., the country’s most profitable miner, increased the value of its overall mineral output by 20 percent, mainly due to rising world metal prices and higher volume.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Philex said the value of minerals produced from its Padcal mine in the first eight months of the year reached P7.42 billion compared to P6.2 billion in the same period last year.

The Padcal mine has produced 6.01 million dry metric tons from January to August this year, up 11 percent from 5.43 million DMT a year before.

For the month of August alone, production value surged by 63 percent to P1.3 billion from P796 million the previous year on the back of increased tonnage, better ore grades and higher metal prices.

Ernesto C. Villaluna Jr., president of Philex, said the Padcal mine delivered 847,751 DMT of ore last August, from 663,762 DMT in the same month last year, resulting in 5,936 DMT of concentrates.

The concentrates contained 71.94 grams of gold per DMT, 25.65 percent copper, and 71.34 grams of silver per DMT. This yielded 13,738 ounces of gold, 3.36 pounds of copper, and 13,615 ounces of silver.

Provisional metal prices were at $1,240 per ounce of gold, $3.34 per pound of copper, and $18.87 per ounce of silver. At the exchange rate of P45.179 to $1, the value of gold produced last August is P769 million, P506 million for copper, and P12 million for the silver.

Philex chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said: “We are confident that the second half of the year will be boosted by higher metal prices and better-quality ore which we are already mining now, as well as by the continuing greater contribution from our energy operations.”

For the medium term, Philex is counting on strong prospects of its Silangan project which Pangilinan said is driving full steam ahead. “We aim to start the development phase of this mine by next year. Silangan will play a key role in building a bright future for Philex.”

The Silangan copper-gold mine in Surigao del Sur Province is estimated to hold much higher resources than Philex’s Padcal Mine, which has been in operation for half a century.

As part of the company’s long-term growth strategy, Villaluna said Philex is constantly looking at all investment opportunities and projects that it may be able to enter into.

He said these include the $5.2-billion Tampakan mining project although it also considering other mining projects, not only in the Philippines but also abroad.