IPVG engages Canada firm in $250M refinery deal

IPVG Corp. announced Thursday a potentially lucrative partnership with Canadian mining firm REC for the construction of a mineral refinery in the Philippines.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, listed firm IPVG said its subsidiary, New Wave Resources Ltd., had already signed a $250-million design, build and operate deal with the foreign firm.

“REC and its partners have extensive design and construction expertise in mineral processing as well as equipment manufacturing and product trading,” IPVG said.

The facility is expected to be completed in 2015.

Under the deal, REC will also tend to the sale of most of the refined products in markets abroad “through long-term, off-take contracts,” IPVG said.

In a separate disclosure, IPVG announced the resignation of its chairman Jaime Enrique Y. Gonzales and independent director Jaun Victor Tanjuatco.

“The vacancies in the board shall be filled up during the board meeting of the corporation scheduled next week,” the disclosure read.

The resignations coincided with the announcement of a major change in the company’s ownership structure.

BDO Private Bank Inc., acting as trustee for one of its depositors, said it had acquired 400 million shares in IPVG for P1 each. This gave the bank a 31.72-percent stake in the company, while diluting Gonzales’ holdings to 2.6 percent from the previous 3.8 percent.

IPVG said the new refinery would cost $250 million to build. Once completed, it can process 3,000 metric tons of minerals a year.

“IPVG intends to export most of its finished products to countries such as Japan, Korea, the United States and Europe, where the products are in high demand,” the company said.

Last March, IPVG subsidiary Conquer Space Ltd. also signed a similar construction deal with REC for a new facility in India.

Based in Vancouver, REC was formed to meet growing demand for strategic and rare minerals in international markets by building processing facilities in key locations around the world.