The ASIA Miner - Reporting Important Issues to Mining Companies in the Asia Pacific Region
Issue link: https://asiaminer.epubxp.com/i/632337
28 | ASIA Miner | Volume 13 • Issue 1 | 2016 Philippines Metals Exploration is hopeful its Runruno Gold-Molybdenum Project in Luzon, the Philippines will be operational in January. The processing plant is built and commissioned but the lack of an operational permit has delayed its switch-on. There have also been delays following the nearby passage of Ty- phoon Lando in October. Following the typhoon the Philippines Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) imposed a partial suspension order on the company's Philippines subsidiary FCF Minerals Corporation which necessitated some remedial work. The typhoon made landfall on Sunday, October 18 and it passed close by Runruno as it moved in a north-westerly and then northerly direction across northern Luzon. It was recorded as a Super Typhoon event and was slow moving which resulted in the Runruno project be- ing impacted by strong winds and intense rainfall over two days. Be- yond the immediate concerns the remainder of the project withstood the impacts of the Typhoon well. Although FCF had already prioritized and commenced works, the MGB order directed it to suspend certain works in the areas of the Re- sidual Storage Impoundment (RSI), the Malilibeg dump site and tailings pipeline bench area of the project. FCF was also directed to undertake rehabilitation and clean-up works to the areas affected by excessive water run-off. No other mine site operations were affected by the sus- pension. FCF said Typhoon Landu caused no structural damage but there was debris to clean up and water damage to address. FCF said it was working closely with the MGB to agree a program of work to be undertaken to enable the suspension order to be lifted. Metals Exploration said in a subsequent statement that rehabilitation and clean up works in the typhoon-affected areas were progressing well, with enhancement work under way on the dump site and within the downstream RSI. It said that the MGB would inspect these works to determine if the suspension order could be lifted. Once that occurs, the tailing discharge pipeline and the RSI could be commissioned lead- ing to the processing of ore and frst production. The AIM-listed company acquired the project in February 2005 and has since increased its interest in the project to 100%. Work has defned a resource of 1.39 million ounces of gold, and 25.6 million pounds of molybdenum with 1.05 million ounces of gold reporting to the measured and indicated categories and 900,000 ounces within the mining proven and probable reserve category. US-BASED company PHI Group has signed a joint venture agree- ment with Manila-based Spartan Mining and Development Corpo- ration (SMDC), to form PHI Spartan Resources, a new Philippines entity equally owned by both companies. The new company will initially focus on dredging lahar sand deposits from Santo Tomas, Maloma and Bucao rivers in Zambales Province. The primary initial reason for this work is to restore navigability of these rivers and the extracted sand will then be processed and exported for Asian construction and reclamation projects. The sand was created in 1991 by the Mount Pinatubo volcanic eruption and also hosts mineral deposits which the JV aims to process. PHI Group is committed to providing an initial US$10 million, with up to $50 million in total, to the JV company to implement the dredging activities and to set up and operate the mineral processing plants. The mineral areas cover approximately 47,000 hectares and the total volume to be dredged is estimated at 1.4 billion tonnes. The projected economic value of the extracted sand, which contains black sand, washed sand and other minerals, could be more than $14 billion. Both companies also intend to cooperate to further develop af- fordable housing, engineering and construction, steel and power generation projects in Zambales after the dredging has begun. One of SMDC's social priorities is to provide affordable housing, economic infrastructure and employment opportunities to help relocate more than half a million families of informal settlers from Metro Manila. SMDC's chairman and CEO Luis Ramos said, "We are very pleased to sign the joint venture agreement to formalize our rela- tionship with PHI Group. We look forward to a long-term mutually rewarding association that can potentially beneft both companies as well as the general welfare of our Filipino people in ways not previously possible." PHI Group's chairman and CEO Henry Fahman said, "We are very excited to share a common philosophy and vision with SMDC's leadership and jointly embark on this historic endeavour. We strong- ly believe this will bring enormous economic value for shareholders of both companies and enduring social benefts for the local Filipino communities." PHI Group's activities include wood pellet projects in North Ameri- ca, reclamation and construction sand from Vietnam and the Philip- pines for land extensions and building in Asian countries, coal asset development in Indonesia, oleochemicals in Malaysia, an LPG ter- minal project in Vietnam, titanium business in Vietnam and a nickel project in Laos. New JV to dredge sand in Zambales Metals Ex is ready to begin production at the Runruno project in northern Luzon. Metals Ex hopes for January Runruno start