APC Group to invest in power, mining ventures

APC Group Inc., a listed holding company controlled by leisure and gaming firm Belle Corp., aims to become one of the major players in the power and mining industries in the next few years.

APC president Willy Ocier said the company. hoping to capitalize on the resurgent minerals and metals sector, expects to do exploration work on Service Contract 14, an oil and gas find located in the Cagayan Valley, next month or as soon as studies have been completed.

Ocier said the company is setting aside $2.5 million in the next two years for S.C.#14. The service area is around 748,000 hectares.

"We want to become a serious player in the energy and mining industry. We’ll be here for the long haul. The mining sector is seen as a catalyst for growth," Ocier said.

He said a number of foreign mining firms had expressed interest to join APC in several mining ventures. Negotiations are ongoing pending due diligence studies on the company’s mining claims.

"We cant finalize a deal without first knowing what we have," Ocier said.

Ocier said the company is still bent on disposing its cash-strapped telecommunications unit Philippine Global Communications Inc. to allow it to focus on the energy resource exploration and pursue mining activities.

Aside from the divestment of Philcom, the APC Group early this year decided to sell the security service business and phase out the petroleum trading business. These moves are in line with the company’s thrust of divesting non-core and unprofitable businesses.

Ocier said the group plans to bring newly-incorporated subsidiary Aragorn Power & Energy Corp. public in the next six to 12 months.

After a decline in the past 20 years, the Philippine mining industry is slowly regaining its old glory with some $3.1 billion in foreign direct investments expected to be poured into different mining projects.

The Philippines is considered a highly mineralized area with mineral resources estimated to cover nine million hectares or about 30 percent of the country’stotal land area. Currently, however, less than half a million hectares are being explored or developed.

The government estimated that the country’s mineral wealth is estimated at $800 billion to $1 trillion.

APC through subsidiary APC Mining Corp. has an application for an exploration permit in the Municipality of Alubijid, Misamis Oriental. The application covers 2,537 hectares of confirmed chromite-bearing formation.