Benguet Corp. retools unit for mining logistics

Publicly listed Benguet Corp. is infusing as much as P210 million into its wholly owned subsidiary Benguet Management Corp. (BMC), in line with efforts to turn the unit into a mining logistics and services provider.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the parent firm said its board had approved in principle the additional capital investment to support the proposed capital increase of BMC and quasi-reorganization in the Benguet Corp. group.

Benguet Corp., the country’s oldest miner, wants to turn BMC into the logistics and services provider for the group’s mining subsidiaries.

In a phone interview, Benguet Corp. CFO Renato Claravall said that BMC used to perform administrative tasks, but it will be reinvented into a key service provider for mining projects controlled by the parent company.

The infusion—valued between P200 million and P210 million—will help BMC buy a port in Candelaria, Zambales, and barges for transporting mineral products, Claravall said. BMC aims to make such purchases within 2012, he said.

Incidentally, Benguet Corp.’s Sta. Cruz nickel project, which helped push the parent company’s income up by almost a third in the second quarter, is located in Zambales province. Another growth driver for Benguet Corp. in the second quarter was the Acupan gold project in Benguet province.

Aside from maximizing BMC’s resources by turning it into a mining logistics and services provider, Benguet Corp. is continuing work to update the resource estimate for its Sta. Cruz nickel mine via new report in four months.

“The resource update may be available by mid- to end-January next year,” Claravall said.