Philex Mining Corp. said over the weekend that it had sustained robust mineral production and ore shipments in the first seven months of the year. The country’s largest miner attributed this to higher yield and buoyant metal prices, with gold hitting record highs.
Based on disclosures to the Philippine Stock Exchange in the last seven months, Philex said the estimated value of ore from the company’s Padcal mine increased 56 percent to P9.52 billion from P6.12 billion in the same period last year.
Philex reported eight shipments in the first seven months of the year compared to six in January to July last year. This resulted in an 85-percent surge in estimated value to P9.47 billion from P5.13 billion in the same period in 2010.
Company president Jose Ernesto C. Villaluna Jr. said the company’s Padcal mine delivered 804,068 dry metric tons (DMT) of ore in July. This resulted in 5,659 DMT of concentrates containing 63.34 grams of gold per DMT, 25.46 percent copper, and 59.36 grams of silver per DMT.
This translates to about 11,524 ounces of gold, 3.18 million pounds of copper and 10,801 ounces of silver. Provisional metal prices for the month were $1,621 per ounce of gold, $4.41 per pound of copper, and $39.63 per ounce of silver.
At an exchange rate of P42.14 to the dollar, the estimated value of the month’s production is P1.4 billion, broken down into P787 million from gold, P591 million from copper, and P18 million from silver.
Philex effected two shipments last July, both for Pan Pacific Copper Co. Ltd., amounting to 10,016 DMT of concentrates having an estimated gross value of P2.43 billion.
The concentrates contained about 20,659 ounces of gold, 5.61 million pounds of copper, and 19,665 ounces of silver.
At average provisional metal prices of $1,566 per ounce of gold, $4.24 per pound of copper, and $37.72 per ounce of silver, gold content was worth P1.38 billion, P1.01 billion for copper, and P32 million for silver.—Riza T. Olchondra