Philex gold resources shrank in 2017

Philex Mining Corp. has reported double-digit declines in its recoverable gold resource as well as ore reserves last year.

The MVP group unit said its recoverable gold resource went down 17.1 percent to 520,000 ounces as of end-2017 from 627,400 ounces previously.

Also, Philex Mining’s proven ore reserves shrank by 12.4 percent to 52.3 million metric tons from 59.7 million tons at the end of 2016.

At the same time, Philex’ copper resource decreased to a recoverable volume of 183.5 million pounds or by 15 percent from 216.2 million pounds.

“Deliberation for additional mine life is in progress along with ongoing study to increase the capacity of tailings storage facilities,” the company said in a regulatory filing.

As for reserves, both measured and indicated, Philex chalked up 185.72 million tons of material that contain about 2.6 million ounces of gold and 914.6 million pounds of copper.

At the end of 2016, Philex reported a total reserve of 222.5 million tons of material that contained 2.7 million ounces of gold and one billion pounds of copper.

For 2017, Philex saw an 18-percent drop in gold production at 84,638 ounces, and a 14-percent fall in copper output at 30.1 million pounds.

Last year’s “metal output was affected by bouldery ore, lower ore grades and other production-related issues as tonnage reached 8.673 million tons” from 9.359 million tons in the previous year, Philex said in February.

“While overall output was lower for the year, the last four months of 2017 showed a 15-percent improvement in tonnage compared with the average in the first eight months due to engineering interventions and additional manpower,” it added.

The company said such measures partially addressed the issues that affected production from January-August 2017. —RONNEL W. DOMINGO