MANILA, Philippines — Tycoon Manuel Pangilinan’s Philex Mining Corp. is exploring ways to complete the Silangan copper and gold project in Surigao del Norte ahead of schedule.
Philex Mining President and CEO Eulalio Austin Jr. said on Friday the listed firm continues to push toward finishing the Silangan mine, but is searching for alternative equipment suppliers to accelerate its completion.
“We are looking at even advancing it (the Silangan project) because we are looking into options on how we could fast-track the deliveries,” Austin said on the sidelines of an industry event in Makati City.
“We are still looking into how we could advance that by trying to negotiate with suppliers for earlier delivery of equipment,” he added.
Project financing
According to the CEO, supplies would come from various companies based in Australia, China, Canada, and South Africa.
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“We are now encountering problems on the delivery of equipment that we have ordered from the Western countries because as you all know, the challenges in the logistics and manufacturing lead time of these equipment are taking long,” Austin told reporters.
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Philex Mining already secured the $224 million funding needed to build the Silangan project, considered one of the big three mining projects in the Philippines, from a combination of stock rights offering, equity financing, and internally generated cash.
The mining company was previously aiming at starting Silangan’s commercial operations in the first quarter of 2025. However, it was constrained to push back the timeline due to the delays related to the loan facility and the unexpectedly longer delivery lead time of critical equipment. INQ