Philex profit down 28%

MANILA, Philippines - Philex Mining Corp. recorded a 28-percent drop in its net income for the second quarter of the year on low- er copper and gold prices.

In a regulatory filing, the compa- ny said its second quarter net income reached P551 mil- lion against P786 million in the same period in 2012.

Second quar- ter gross revenues fell four percent to P3.248 billion against P3.386 bil- lion in the same period in 2012.

The company’s copper-gold mine in Padcal, Benguet, which was allowed by the government to extend opera- tions, produced 2.4 tons of ore during the period, up five percent from 2.3 million tons pro- duced in the same period last year.

During the quarter, the com- pany’s only operat- ing mine produced 19,474 metric tons (MT) of concen- trates, up from 16,755 MT of con- centrate produced in the same quarter last year.

The company said metal produc- tion was higher with gold increas- ing by 13 percent and copper  in- creasing by 21 per- cent year-on-year to 33,235 ounces and 11,244,334 pounds respec- tively.

Philex said high- er grade ore was processed and bet- ter recovery rates were achieved.

For the six months ending June 30, the com- pany’s net Income was placed at P954 million,  down from to P2.036 bil- lion for the same period last year.

This was be- cause the company was only able to start operations on March 8 this year after the govern- ment granted its petition for a tem- porary  resump- tion of operations seven months after a massive tailings spill that occurred in August 2012.

“Despite lower metal prices, we remain on course with our social and environmen- tal  commitments to the government, particularly  the requirements  for the cleanup and rehabilitation  of areas affected by the Padcal spill last year,” said Philex chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan in the filing.

The clean up and rehabilitation program for the Padcal mine is still ongoing.

During the first half of the year, the company has com- pleted the cleanup of Balog Creek in Itogon, Benguet.