Philex ore output from Padcal mine up 57.5% to P8.12B in H1

MANILA, Philippines - Philex Mining Corp., the country’s largest gold producer, said ore production from its Padcal mine increased 57.5 percent in the first half this year on the back of higher output and rising metal prices.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Philex said the value of ore produced from January to June 2011 amounted to P8.12 billion, compared with P5.16 billion in the same period last year.

The mine has produced a total of 4.66 million dry metric tons (DMT), up seven percent from the previous year’s 4.36 million DMT.

For the month of June alone, Philex reported that the total estimated value of production reached P1.4 billion, 48 percent higher than the P947 million worth of ore mined in the same month last year.

Philex president Jose Ernesto C. Villaluna Jr. said the Padcal mine delivered 810,266 DMT of ore resulting in 5,812 DMT of concentrates containing 65.04 grams of gold, 25.6 percent copper and 60.68 grams of silver per DMT.

This translated to 12,153 ounces of gold worth P793 million, 3.28 million pounds of copper valued at P600 million and 11,338 ounces of silver worth P17 million.

The provisional metal prices for the period was at $1,507 per ounce of gold, $4.22 per pound of copper, and $35 per ounce of silver at the exchange rate of P43.33 to the dollar.

Also last month, Philex made two shipments with a total estimated value of P2.33 billion compared to one shipment worth P922 million in June last year.

Total estimated value of concentrates shipped in the first half of 2011 rose 68 percent to P7.05 billion from P4.2 billion in the same period last year of higher metal prices as well as the higher number of shipments.

The first shipment last June was worth P1.17 billion and contained 10,236 ounces of gold worth P674 million, 2.7 million pounds of copper worth P476 million and 9,631 ounces of silver valued at P15 million.

The second June shipment of concentrates was estimated to be worth P1.16 billion consisting of 10,029 ounces of gold valued at P660 million, 2.75 million pounds of copper worth P484 million, and 9,626 ounces of silver worth P15 million.