MMC eyes P683-M offer

Manila Mining Corp. (MMC) on Wednesday announced plans to offer to existing shareholders some 57 billion of its unissued stock on June 16-20.

The company said in a disclosure that its board of directors approved last March the offering of some 34.17 billion of the company’s “A” shares, which are restricted to Filipino shareholders, and 22.76 billion of “B” shares, which are open to foreign investors.

With an offer price of 1.2 centavos per share, MMC is looking at raising some P683 million in fresh capital.

The company said proceeds are meant for use in its drilling program and for working capital, as well as to pay off debt.

An affiliate of Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co., MMC’s operations are currently suspended, although it spent a total of P32 million in 2012 and 2013 for the rehabilitation of its mine and tailings pond.

MMC used to produce gold bullion and copper concentrates from the mine it operated in Surigao del Norte until 2001.

The company has a pending application for another renewal of the exploration permit held by its lone subsidiary Kalayaan Copper-Gold Resource Inc., which was first approved in 2007 and renewed in 2010.

Also, it has two existing mining lease contracts for an area in Placer, Surigao del Norte, as well as three mineral production sharing agreements covering areas in Surigao del Norte and Agusan del Norte.

According to MMC’s latest annual report, all expenses related to administrative matters and depreciation or depletion will be booked as losses until it is able to restart commercial operations.