Apex confident of hitting Maco mine’s maximum capacity

MANILA, Philippines — Listed Apex Mining Co. Inc. is confident of reaching the maximum throughput capacity in a decade at its Maco mine in Davao de Oro following the takeover of Asia Alliance Mining Resources Corp. (AAMRC).

The mining company took control of AAMRC after signing deeds of absolute sale in February.

With an acquisition cost of $81.5 million, Apex Mining paid an initial $5.5 million while the remaining $76 million shall be paid in four equal annual installments over the next five years.

This will allow the company to reach the maximum 3,000 tons per day (tpd) milling capacity, Apex Mining president and CEO Luis Sarmiento said during the company’s stockholders’ meeting over the weekend.

“This acquisition provides us the space we need for building another tailings storage facility (TSL) and ensures the continuation of our expansion to 3,000 tpd. More importantly, the acquisition enables us to maintain this level of production until 2032,” he said.

The company is fast-tracking its plans to hit the 3,000 tpd soon, which is the current maximum design capacity.

Last year, the Maco mine averaged 2,330 tpd that resulted in a total tonnage milled of 815,910 tons, higher by 15 percent year-on-year.

“With the recent acquisition of Asia Alliance, which has an operating agreement over the North Davao property, we are confident of prolonging the life of the 3,000 tons per day beyond 2032,” Sarmiento said.

The mining firm also sees more room for copper gold porphyry deposits found within its existing mining tenement.

“Should we proceed with the development, the copper mill, another TSL and waste rock stockpile will be put up within the North Davao Mining Corp. (NDMC) tenement area. This will officially bring us back to producing copper, which we used to do in the 1970s,” Sarmiento said.

Apex Mining plans to develop several gold veins that extend to the NDMC tenement, which will increase its gold resource base and expanding its mill.

“This, in turn, gives us the cash flow in just a couple of years from the buyout of Asia Alliance,” Sarmiento said.

AAMRC’s mining interest is covered by a notice of award issued by the Philippine Mining Development Corp. (PMDC) as the highest bidder for the joint operating agreement over copper mines and mining claims.

The joint operating agreement covers 20,237 hectares in the municipalities of Mabini, Maco, and Maragusan in Davao de Oro, which its covered by the NDMC application FTAA-XI-14.

The project area has been amended to 19,135.12 hectares based on the area status and clearance issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Region 11 in February.

Apex Mining earlier said the transaction is subject to the sellers’ settlement of AAMRC’s litigation over the NDMC claims with PMDC.

This covers the filing of the Joint Motion for Approval of Compromise Agreement by PMDC and AAMRC with the Court of Appeals and Regional Trial Court of Pasig City, Branch 167.

The deal shall also be subject to the execution of a joint operating agreement under which AAMRC shall explore, develop and operate the NDMC mining claims.

The NDMC mining claims will be developed and operated by AARMC surround the existing mining claims and operations of Apex in Maco, Davao de Oro.

Apex had an application for production sharing agreement (APSA) which overlapped with the NDMC claim, but lost the case against PMDC in the Supreme Court in 2020.