Philex, 3 others qualified to bid for Diwalwal

MANILA, Philippines - Philex Mining Corp., the country’s largest miner,  is one of four companies that have been pre-qualified to bid for the gold rush area of Mt. Diwalwal Mining Reservation in Southern Mindanao.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Philex said it was prequalified by the state-owned Philippine Mining Development Corp. to bid for the right to develop and operate PMDC’s 729-hectare Diwalwal mine in Compostela Valley, subject to post-qualification and evaluation and verification of documents. 

Philex said the move was in line with its continuing program to explore opportunities to beef up its mining portfolio.

Among the three other firms that had been prequalified to bid for what is believed to have a rich gold deposit are APC Group Inc./South China Resources Inc.; Carrascal Nickel Corp.; and construction firm FF Cruz & Co. Inc.

The bidding, which is limited to Filipino corporations, will be held on May 14. The minimum bid price for the mine was pegged at P300 million, with the government retaining a five percent royalty share in the gross profit of the winner, once the firm starts extracting minerals.

Majority owned by the Hong Kong-based investment holding company First Pacific Co. Ltd., Philex primarily produces copper concentrates, containing copper, gold and silver.

In 2009, Philex reported a net income of P2.74 billion, 2.14 percent lower than the previous year due to lower shipments from 8.9 million tons to only 8.2 million tons.

Its mining tenements include the gold-copper Padcal mine in Benguet province and the 5,184-hectare Silangan gold and copper project in Surigao del Norte.

Philex is seeking to expand overseas and is looking at metal-rich Indonesia, the world’s second-largest producer of tin and the third-largest copper producer.

In the first quarter this year, the value of ore produced from PHilex’s Padcal mine amounted to P2.5 billion, 13 percent higher than the P2.22 billion registered the same period a year earlier due to higher output and improving metal prices.

The Padcal mine has produced 2.11 million dry metric tons of ore, slightly higher than the 2.09 million DMT produced in the first quarter last year.