MRC Allied gets go-ahead for gold plant

Listed holding company MRC Allied Inc. has signed an agreement that will enable it to build and operate a gold processing plant in San Miguel, Surigao del Sur.

In a disclosure on Thursday to the Philippine Stock Exchange, MRC Allied chair and president Benjamin M. Bitanga said the company, through CFO Vicente Laza, made the agreement with the Upper San Miguel Manobo Sectoral Tribe Council.

Bitanga said the Council is the exclusive holder of the Express Priority Rights or EPR recently endorsed by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples for the development of an area of about 20,000 hectares within mineral-rich Surigao del Sur.

The partnership calls for MRC to provide employment, education, and other public facilities for the tribal groups, on top of the support they will receive for mining operations.

In return, MRC gains control of operations and the ability to sell the gold produced.

CIO Miguel Bitanga said via e-mail that the EPR held by the Council helps expedite the application for both the Exploration Permit or EP and Mineral Production Sharing Agreement or MPSA for MRC Surigao.