Philex Mining starts March with surge in shipments amid higher metal prices
Monday, 08 March 2010 00:00
PHILEX Mining Corp. said it registered strong growth in the value of ore produced from its Padcal mine as well as in its mineral shipments because of higher metal prices. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the country’s biggest mining firm said the estimated value of its production for the first two months of the year went up by 9 percent to P1.58 billion from P1.45 billion in the same period of 2009.
Jose Ernesto Villaluna Jr., Philex president, said the Padcal mine delivered 644,939 dry metric tons (DMT) of ore resulting in 4,726 DMT of concentrates containing 49.11 grams per DMT of gold, 24.72-percent copper and 52.75 grams per DMT of silver in February.
Production last month amounted to 7,471 ounces of gold, 2.58 million pounds of copper and 8015 ounces of silver with a total estimated value of P772 million. The estimated value of gold output is P384 million, P382 million for copper and P6 million for silver.
This was based on provisional metal prices of $1,110 per ounce of gold, $3.21 per pound of copper and $16.12 per ounce of silver at the exchange rate of P46.258 to $1.00.
The company’s first shipment for March also rose by 50 percent to P816 million from the P545-million worth of concentrates in the same month last year.
The shipment on March 1 contained concentrates amounting to 5,067 DMT, just slightly higher than the 5,009 DMT shipped in the same period last year.
Gold shipped dropped to 8,160 ounces from 9,466 ounces in the same period of 2009 while copper content went up to 2.79 million pounds from 2.6 million last year.
The value of the mineral content in this month’s first shipment, based on provisional metal prices, amounted to P392 million for gold, P417 million for copper and P7 million for silver.
On February 23, Philex shipped 4,998 DMT of concentrates with an estimated value of P836 million.
The company earlier said it increased its stake in Forum Energy Plc, which was recently awarded an exploration and development contract in offshore Palawan.
Philex’s wholly owned oil and gas unit, Philex Petroleum Corp. (PPC), purchased an additional 2.4-percent interest in Forum Energy, raising the group’s stake to 65.0 percent.
PPC now holds 39 percent of Forum Energy while the other 26.0 percent is held through FEC Resources Inc., Philex’s 51-percent owned Canadian subsidiary.
Forum Energy is a UK-based oil and gas exploration company that recently won the conversion of its Geophysical Survey and Exploration Contract 101 to a Service Contract 72.
The Reed Bank Basin measures about 71,000 square kilometers and is located about 250 kilometers west of Palawan.
In 2006, results from a 248 square kilometer 3D seismic survey over the license area confirmed a minimum of 3.4 trillion cubic feet of proven gas in place with significant upside potential.
Krista Angela M. Montealegre And Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo
