Villar son mulls add'l mining investments

MANILA, Philippines - A son of Sen. Manuel Villar is open to investing in other mining ventures following his purchase of a 25-percent stake in Nationwide Development Corp. (Nadecor).

“It (Nadecor) was a personal investment. I think it’s an interesting opportunity and is good for the country. I am looking at other opportunities in this sector,” said Manuel Paolo Villar, chief executive officer of Vista Land.

The senator’s son, through a private firm, acquired 30 million common shares of Nadecor for P1.8 billion.

Nadecor holds a mineral and production sharing agreement over a large reserve of gold and copper deposits in Compostela Valley also known as the Kingking mine.

Covering 1,656 hectares, the Kingking mine has gold deposits estimated at 10.3 million ounces and copper deposits of 5.4 billion pounds.

Nadecor said Villar’s investment will allow them to jumpstart the Kingking mine and then move forward to large scale production to meet the demand for copper and gold by global markets.

Villar is bullish on the prospects of the mining industry in the country even with few signs of a slowdown in mineral demand from Asian neighbors.

The government earlier announced it expected new investments in the mining sector to hit $2.8 billion this year, double an earlier forecast and the highest annual figure since the sector was fully opened to foreign investors in 2005.

Among the major projects expected to start from 2012 to 2016 include the Tampakan copper-gold mine, the $1.3-billion nickel project of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., $1-billion Silangan copper-gold project of Philex Mining Corp., both in Surigao del Norte and the $1.8-billion Kingking copper-gold deposit.

The Villar family, which has investments in real estate through Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., has not discounted the possibility of entering the infrastructure business. “We believe there are vast investment opportunities in infrastructure where we can generate solid returns but as of this time we have not made any decision on this. But there is nothing that’s stopping us from venturing into it,” Villar said.

The family is also expanding its retail business which was folded into Polar Properties Holdings Corp. It already owns five malls including the Star Mall in EDSA corner Shaw Blvd. as well as the Starmall Alabang (Metropolis).