South African firm eyes 60% of Lepanto unit

MANILA, Philippines - Gold Fields Philippines Corp. has an option to acquire a 60-percent stake in Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co.’s Far Southeast Gold Resources, Inc. (FSGRI).

In an interview with The STAR, Gold Fields president and chief executive officer Brett Mattison said Gold Fields Switzerland had signed an 18-month option with Lepanto and Liberty Express Assets for the acquisition of Lepanto’s 20 percent and Liberty’s 40 percent in FSGRI.

Mattison said the 18-month option will expire on March 20, 2012 and that is when the company will make its final decision.

“We intend to use that 18-month option. We will only make a decision in March next year,” he said.

In the meantime, Mattison said Gold Fields continues with its exploration work. “There’s definitely something there,” he said without giving any details.

Mattison said the deep ore nature of FSGRI has never been an issue for Gold Fields. In fact, he assured, “that’s our expertise.”

What the South African mining group wants, Mattison said, is “comfort” and “clarity”.

By comfort, Mattison said, Gold Fields wants to ensure that there is a “substantial ore body; that we have security and safety, and that the country’s policies support what we want to do and that we can proceed is a sustainable and responsible manner.”

Mattison would not reveal how much Gold Fields plans to invest except to say that it would be “substantial.”

Earlier, Mines and Geosciences Bureau director Leo Jasareno said that the South African Gold Fields Group reportedly plans to invest $800 million in the Philippines over a five-year period.

Jasareno revealed that Gold Fields is now actively “moving” on its planned investments in the Philippines.