The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) has approved the Declaration of Mining Project Feasibility (DMPF) for the Kingking copper-gold project in Compostela Valley.
READ: Operations at Kingking mine seen to start in 2017
The approval of the DMPF was the last major hurdle in the permitting process for a mining operation, St. Augustine Gold and Copper Ltd. (SAGCL) said in a statement.
The Villar-led SAGCL said the approval was awarded to its joint-venture partner Nationwide Development Corp. (Nadecor).
READ: Villar firm invests P1.8B in Kingking gold project
Nadecor expects to extract from Kingking 3.16 billion pounds of copper and 5.43 million ounces of gold over 25 years.
Based on a preliminary feasibility study from 2013, the net present value of Kingking’s mineral reserves was pegged at $2 billion. RAM