NEWS

By Eireene Jairee Gomez

GOLD and copper miner Philex Mining Corp. is expecting a delay on the early stages of its Silangan mine in Surigao del Norte, citing challenges on the availability of funds to fuel the initial operations, as well as issues raised by investors, its top official said.

At the sidelines of the Minerals Industry Symposium during the four-day 66th Annual National Mine Safety Environment Conference, Philex President and Chief Executive Officer Eulalio Austin told reporters that while the company had already tapped reputable financial institutions J.P. Morgan for equity investment and Mizuho for project financing, there have been no “fixed investors” yet.

The mining firm needs to allocate around $750 million for the development of the Silangan project. Of the amount, $350 million was needed to jumpstart the project, while the remaining $400 million may be raised through loans, Austin said.

“Supposedly, in our timetable, we need the $350 million to be coming in [the] first half of 2020. That’s why we need to talk to our investors,” he said.

“There are some investors telling us that the project is too small for them, [and] there are big players in the industry who said that it’s not within their required numbers. These are some of the feedback we are getting from them and the other one is the current climate wherein government is lukewarm to the mining industry, These are the things they are raising,” Austin added.

The Silangan mine will replace Philex’s Padcal copper-gold mine in Benguet, whose mine life is expected to end by December 2022.

Earlier, Austin said Philex was targeting early developments in its Silangan mine by the first half of 2020, with annual average production level seen reaching 4 million tons a year once in full operation.

For the first six months of 2020, Austin said the company was expecting to undertake infrastructure operations, including roadworks, opening of the portal, initial construction of the tailing span and environmental controls, among others.

Through underground or sub-level cave mining, he said the partial production of the country’s biggest gold producer will begin next year.

“[I]f by 2020 wala pa yung initial money for early works, the time table will move,” Austin said.

However, he said Philex was banking on its decades of experience in underground mining, which could help attract investors to its Silangan mine project, which has been branded as one of three big-ticket mining projects seen to propel the Philippines as a major regional copper producer.

“For us, we can only talk about the track record of Philex Mining for more than 60 years in operation. We have been advocates of right and principle mining and the community in Surigao [adn] we have the full trust of the people there. But we still have to deal with this current regulatory climate,” said Austin.

“Sa amin open naman kami kung sinong makapag-ambag ng pera. (We are open to anyone who can contribute money.) The important thing is to start the project because the Silangan will take the place of Padcal operations which we are saying is projected to close by 2022. We should bring in that mine (Silangan) before Padcal seizes operations,” he added.

Source: The Manila Times