Philex acquires 46% of Canadian firm for $5M
Philex Mining Corp., the country’s biggest miner of gold and copper by market value, has acquired 46 percent of Canadian-based FEC Resources Inc. for $5 million.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Philex said it acquired through a private placement 200 million shares of FEC, which holds a diverse portfolio of oil and gas properties in the
FEC is also Philex’s joint venture partner through Philex Gold Phils.
The move is aimed at increasing Philex’s portfolio in petroenergy.
The purchase follows Philex’s purchase of a 4.4-percent stake in Pitkin Petroleum Ltd., a Texas-based junior exploration company, for $2 million.
Pitkin is producing on a small-scale basis in
The drilling in Vietnam is scheduled to commence in 2009 where Pitkin is 40 percent carried for two wells costing at about $53 million, with a partner in the United Kingdom with $2-billion market capitalization.
Philex currently has interests in three other petroleum projects in the
The company earlier said it may spend as much as $1 billion with partner Anglo American PLC to develop the Boyongan copper-gold site if mining the property is found to be feasible. A feasibility study for the site would take three years to complete.
With the increasing prices of minerals and metals worldwide, Philex expects its production this year to increase to 120,000 ounces of gold and 40 million pounds of copper.
Philex also plans to acquire additional mining properties to sustain production.
The company posted a net income of P3.1 billion in the first seven months of the year or more than double the previous level of P1.4 billion, mainly due to higher metal prices and volumes sold.
Earnings per share rose to P1.036 from 47.1 centavos last year.
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