Manila Mining allots P180 million for further exploration

MANILA, Philippines - Lepanto Consolidated affiliate Manila Mining Corp. will allocate P180 million for further exploration and drilling, while P150 million will be used to settle various suppliers’ debt out of the P335.6 million it is raising from a stock rights offering.

During yesterday’s annual stockholders’ meeting at the Lepanto Building in Makati, chairman and chief executive Felipe U. Yap said MMC’s stock rights offering is oversubscribed by two million shares.

MMC is raising P335.6 million from a stock rights offering for 22,375,540,151 common shares.

For every eight shares, a registered shareholder as of record date March 10, 2010 is entitled to purchase one share of common stock.

MMC is now looking at its own mine tailings as a possible source of gold for re-processing.