Atlas continues to attract investors

MANILA, Philippines - Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development Corp., a partnership between the Ramos and Sy families, continues to attract potential investors, according to a top company official.

In a chance interview, Atlas chairman and president Alfredo Ramos said there are other groups that have signified interest in the mining firm but refused to name them until something concrete has been firmed up.

Ramos didn’t say whether his group, which holds a substantial block in Atlas, was willing to get diluted.

The Sy family, through its listed flagship holding firm SM Investments Corp., now holds 28.43 percent of Atlas after purchasing P5.34 billion worth of convertible loans held by its banking unit Banco De Oro Unibank.

SMIC’s decision to increase its equity investment in Atlas affirms its optimism in Atlas’ potential for growth as a key player in the mining industry.

The Consunji family likewise owns a minority interest in Atlas with its recent purchase of a 5.3 percent stake for P16.50 each share or a total of P1.58 billion.

Atlas, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Carmen Copper Corp. (CCC), operates the Toledo copper mine in Cebu which produced a record 7.35 million pounds of copper in March and increased its production rate during the first quarter of this year by 21 percent.

CCC is hoping to raise its current throughput capacity of 40,000 tons per day to 60,000 tons by 2014.

It is likewise projecting to sell a total of 80 million pounds of copper metal this year, 12 million pounds more than what it sold last year.

CCC was acknowledged as Southeast Asia’s largest copper mine at its peak, a major economic backbone for Cebu for 50 years until a devastating typhoon and a metal price slump led to the facility’s closure in 1994. The site was estimated to contain about 1.5 billion tons of ore or about five million tons of copper.

The company reported a three-fold jump in net earnings last year to P2.54 billion as revenues grew 41.2 percent to P12.5 billion. Core income grew 59.5 percent to P2.28.