Benguet gets 25-year mining deal renewal

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has given mining firm Benguet Corp. a fresh mandate to harness mineral resources for another 25 years.

In a disclosure on Tuesday, Benguet said the DENR had approved the renewal of its mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA) starting March 31, 2025.

The MPSA grants a contractor the exclusive right to conduct mining operations within a contract area.

The government retains ownership of minerals while the private entity provides the financing, technology, management and personnel for the mining project.

In turn, the contractor shares a portion of revenue from the mining project with the government. Benguet has an operating agreement with Balanga Bataan Minerals Corp. signed in March 1996.

It covers 1,410 hectares situated in Bagac, Mariveles and Limay towns in Bataan province.

It said the extension of the MPSA “will allow the company to continue its drilling activities and other exploration works leading to declaration for mining project feasibility.”

The company, which began drilling activities in 2020, said in its annual report that it had created and maintained additional access roads and drill pads, hole-to-hole transfer and mobilization of the drill-rigs, coring operation, hauling of core-boxes, quick structural logging of cores, cutting of cores into halves and sampling.

Benguet operates a gold mine in Benguet, nickel mines in Zambales and a limestone processing facility in Baguio City.

Based on its website, the firm continues to expand its footprint in various mineral prospects through exploration in the Philippines, as well as mining properties in Nevada in the United States.

In the first semester of this year, Benguet reported a consolidated net income of P267.7 million, declining by almost 39 percent from a year ago, while revenues decreased by 19 percent to P1.3 billion due to lower nickel price and sales volume. —Jordeene B. Lagare