Benguet on track to settle debts this year

MANILA, Philippines - Benguet Corp.is eyeing to fully settle its debt obligations this year as it ramps up gold and nickel operations at its Acupan mine amid high metal prices in the global market.

In a statement, Benguet said it has “retired 83 percent of its debt and will continue to move towards full settlement in 2012.”

In 2011, Benguet posted net earnings of P1.385 billion, down 42.3 percent from the P2.4 billion recorded in 2010 when the company booked extraordinary gains of P2.3 billion from the settlement of liabilities and non-refundable deposit from the Kingking mine transaction.

Revenues from gold climbed 50 percent year-on-year are expected to continue to grow as milling capacity increases to 300 metric tons per day by the fourth quarter of 2012.

Nickel delivered P533 million in revenues or an increase of 189 percent from P282 million in 2010.

Benguet said it expects to sustain its positive trajectory based on a projected increase in production capacity and high market prices of gold and nickel.

The company said the ramped-up Acupan gold mining output and the continued ore shipments of unit BenguetCorp Nickel Mines, lnc. provided steady and recurring income base last year as global metal prices continued to be strong.

Benguet said it is moving forward in the development of its pioneering gold tailings reprocessing project and the expansion of its gold and nickel operations.

The company last year said it expected gold production to rise by 50.2 percent to 7,000 ounces in 2012, and further to 18,000 by next year as the Acupan mine hikes its capacity to 10,000 ounces by July or August 2013.