MANILA, Philippines--Benguet Corp. has exited from a joint venture project to develop the Batong Buhay copper-gold mine in Pasil town, Kalinga.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Benguet Corp. said it signed on March 31 a ?disengagement agreement? with the Balatoc Tribe.

The company said management decided to withdraw from the project after carefully studying its future prospects and the risks involved.

?Although the property has good geological potentials, certain unresolved issues with regard to tribal conflicts... and engineering constraints have eroded the company?s confidence in ... the project,? BC said. ?The company?s various investments and advances in the project will be reimbursed by the tribe through the entry of a new investor.?

The right to develop the Batong Buhay mines was bidded out on Dec. 15, 2008. BC was selected to be the partner of the Balatoc Sub-tribe of Kalinga, the tribal community holding ancestral-domain rights to the property.

According to the Philippine Mining Development Corp., the Batong Buhay property is a copper-gold area with reserves estimated at 86.9 million metric tons with 0.599 percent copper and 0.253 grams of gold per metric ton.