Philex output rises 6% in January

MANILA, Philippines - Philex Mining Corp., the country’s top gold producer, registered a six-percent rise in output from its Padcal mine last month but the value of its production fell due to a stronger peso.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange yesterday, Philex said the mine delivered 811,685 dry metric tons compared with 766,584 DMT in the same month in 2011.

The estimated value of the month’s production is P1.3 billion, consisting of P777 million from gold, P505 million from copper and P14 million from silver. This is lower than the P1.45 billion recorded the previous level.

Philex said the estimated value is based on provisional metal prices of $1,741 per ounce of gold, $3.85 per pound of copper, and $33.60 per ounce of silver at the exchange rate of P42.87 to $1.

The 811,685 DMT of ore produced by the Padcal mine resulted in 5,530 DMT of concentrates containing 56.88 grams of gold per DMT, 25.12 percent copper, and 54.37 grams of silver per DMT.

Last December, the Padcal mine delivered 819,938 DMT of ore resulting in 5,839 DMT of concentrates containing 57.34 grams of gold per DMT, 24.73 percent copper and 56.24 grams of silver per DMT.

For the whole of 2011, production rose 22 percent to P16.15 billion from P13.24 billion a year before.

Shipments last year also went up 14.42 percent to P14.82 billion due to higher metal prices.