Villar firm invests P1.8B in Kingking gold project

Most stockholders of Nationwide Development Corp. (Nadecor) recently affirmed the board of directors’ acceptance of a P1.8-billion investment from the Villar Group into the Kingking copper-gold project in Compostela Valley and the cancellation of an agreement with St. Augustine Gold and Copper Ltd. (SAGCL).

Nadecor, where two groups have fought over management control, holds a mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA) for Kingking.

Nadecor said in a statement that during a meeting on June 13, its shareholders ratified the sale of the company’s unissued outstanding shares to the Villar Group’s Queensberry Mining and Development Corp.

The Villar firm holds around 30 million common shares in Nadecor worth P1.8 billion, representing 25 percent of Nadecor’s outstanding capital stock.

Also, the majority of Nadecor’s stockholders affirmed the board’s resolution to rescind its memorandum of understanding (MOU) with SAGCL, a mining firm based in the Cayman Islands, citing “breaches and violations” that resulted in their parting of ways.

During the same meeting, the new members of Nadecor’s board of directors were announced: Jose G. Ricafort, Paolo A. Villar, Ma. Nalen R. Galang, Jose P. de Jesus, Victor P. Lazatin, Ethelwoldo E. Fernandez, Antonio A. Henson, Teodorico C. Taguinod, and Angel S. Ong.

“We can now proceed with developing the Kingking mine site, and then move forward to large scale production for a substantial output to match the demand for copper and gold by global markets,” said Ricafort, who represented the group that held the controlling stake in the company.

The stockholders’ meeting was marred by the walkout of Conrado Calalang’s group, which held a substantial stake in Nadecor.

Sources said Ricafort’s group tried to buy out Calalang’s group, which reportedly favored the deal with SAGCL. With problems left unresolved, Calalang’s group decided to walk out of the meeting.

The Ricafort Group, which is allied with the Villar Group, then decided to continue with the order of business. The Ricafort-Villar bloc, along with other shareholders, holds 67.6 percent of the total shares represented during the meeting, Nadecor said.

Nadecor is the holder of MPSA 009-92-XI covering 1,656 hectares. The mining site is said to contain 10.3 million ounces of gold and 5.4 billion pounds of copper.

The mining area is in Barangay Kingking, municipality of Pantukan, Compostela Valley in Mindanao—92 kilometers northeast of Davao City.