UK firm gets mining permit in N. Vizcaya

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya ,Philippines  – A company registered in the United Kingdom was granted a mining clearance in this province after more than five years of exploration for gold and other mineral deposits.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) said the mining feasibility clearance granted to FCF Minerals Inc. would allow it to continue its mining activity for a multibillion-peso project here.

A local subsidiary of the London-based Metals Exploration, FCF Minerals operates Runruno Gold-Molybdenum Project in Runruno village in Quezon town.

“The permit granted to the firm would require it to submit the (project’s) economic feasibility and other necessary papers leading to possible commercial operation,” said Mario Ancheta, MGB director for Cagayan Valley, in a media interview over the weekend.

FCF, whose continuous operation was endorsed by the provincial board as well as concerned municipal and barangay councils, is eyeing its full commercial operation in 2013.

The firm had remitted some P19 million in taxes and other fees to the government, besides nearly P20 million worth of development and social projects for host communities and adjacent villages.

If FCF’s commercial operation pushes through, it would be the second large-scale mining project in the province after the Didipio Gold-Copper Project, a joint venture project with an Australian firm.