Gold Mining in Philippines
- Overview
Lode and placer gold deposits occurin most of the 73 provinces in the Philippines. The principal producing districts are Baguio and Paracale in Luzon; and Masbate, Surigao and Masara in Mindanao. Gold production in 2003 totalled 37,800 kg compared to 35,800 kg in 2002.
Most of the production was attributable to small-scale mining operations. Output by Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co, the only major gold producer, declined from 3.5 t to 2.8 t. Philex Mining Corp's by-product gold output totalled 2.8 t. Lepanto mines the Victoria 1 and Victoria 2 high-grade gold deposits in Mankayan, Benguet, and has obtained a Board of Investments registration for its Victoria 2 project, which will entitle the company to a further four to six years' income tax holiday for its gold operations.
TVI Pacific Inc is running an 80 t/d pilot plant at Canatuan, in Zamboanga del Norte, processing tailings from small-scale mining activities in the area. Benguet Corp's Acupan project and Philsaga Mining Corp's Banahaw project are also processing the output of small-scale mining operations.
National Resource Mineral Development Corp (NRMDC), the DENR's corporate arm, operates the direct state-utilisation project in Diwalwal, Davao del Norte. A tailings dam is being constructed to impound the tailings of the small-scale miners, who have been issued mining permits. NRMDC has successfully negotiated the takeover of the lowest adit of one of the three major small-scale contractors, and plans to undertake a diamond-drilling programme to check on the downward extensions of the two major veins, Balite and Buenas Tinago.
Lafayette Mining Ltd, through its subsidiary companies and Philippine partners, holds an interest in the Rapu Rapu polymetallic project in the Philippines. The initial six-year mine life will process around 1 Mt/y of ore for annual production of approximately 10,000 t of copper-in-concentrate,14,000 t of zinc-in-concentrates, 50,000 oz of gold and 600,000 oz of silver.
In early 2005 Crew Gold announced that it had reached an agreement, in a joint venture with local companies, to acquire 72.5% of the issued capital of the Philippine- based Apex Mining Company for a total consideration of US$7 million in cash.Apex (AMCI) is listed on the Manila stock exchange. Its principal asset is the Masara Gold Mine (``Masara'') in the south of Mindanao Island, which ceased production in March 2000. The mine was previously operated as a small-scale underground operation and has a treatment plant with the capacity to process 1,200 tonnes of ore per day.
The Australian company Climax was granted the Didipio Project's Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme during January 2005. Operations of the Didipio gold/copper project will be conducted through Australasian Philippines Mining Inc, which is incorporated in the Philippines specifically for the purpose of developing the Didipio project. The granting of the EPEP allows APMI to now proceed to complete the permitting process for the project and obtain Government approval under the FTAA to license the project for commencement of project construction and development
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Sur American Gold Corporation discovered a strong 800 metre wide and minimum 400 metre deep resistivity anomaly that is open at depth and partially coincident with a moderate chargeability anomaly at its Comval Gold and gold-copper project, located in East Mindanao. The major anomaly occurs within the Batoto Gold project area in a zone called Santa Fe about 2500 metres to the south west of the Clark area and is represented by a very strong 800 metre wide and minimum 400 metre deep resistivity anomaly.
Mindoro Resources Ltd. and Panoro Minerals Ltd have identified two promising porphyry copper-gold drill targets on the Agata project.A major geophysical program has been completed, which defines remarkably strong IP anomalies extending semi-continuously over 4.5 kilometers of strike. Two particularly strong porphyry copper-gold targets are emerging, one in the north area of the project and one in the south. Agata is a highly mineralized project, and has been the site of historical and ongoing artisanal gold mining. It is in a favorable structural setting, at the intersection of cross-cutting faults and a splay of the Philippines Fault, which has focused mineralizing intrusions Mindoro Resources has also enlarged its claim holdings in Batangas Province to 14,400 ha. At its Lobos project, it has concentrated its grid-pattern drilling in the Southwest Breccia area to block out sufficient reserves in order to justify a small high-grade operation.
Australian-based Oxiana Ltd, through Oxiana Philippines Inc, has more than 300,000 ha under exploration for high-grade porphyry copper-gold and epithermal gold deposits, and three early-stage exploration projects cover ground in Southern Leyte, Panaon Island and Surigao.
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