Mt. Diwalwal parcel attracts 9 miners

Nine miners have expressed interest to partner with the government in exploring and developing the fourth parcel of the Mt. Diwalwal gold rush area in Compostela Valley in Mindanao, which is said to hold the country’s largest gold deposits. These are Paraiso Consolidated Mining Corp. (Pacomingco), construction firm FF Cruz & Co., Inc., Philex Mining Corp., Blackstone Mineral Resources, Inc., Udema Holdings, China NonFerrous Metals Mining (Phil.) Group Co., Angping-led Geograce Resources Philippines, Inc., Balatoc Gold Resources Corp. and Mt. Sinai Mining Exploration and Development Corp., documents from the Philippine Mining Development Corp. (PMDC) showed. "I expect more firms to express interest in the 729-hectare area," PMDC Vice-President Jaime T. De Veyra told reporters on Monday. He noted that the fourth portion is the center of the gold rush area, and drilling at the site had shown gold ore resources of almost a million ounces. Bidding for the fourth parcel, which will be limited to Filipinos, will be held on May 14. Bidders have until today to buy the eligibility requirement forms and a pre-bidding conference will be held a month later. The PMDC has set a minimum bid price of P300 million and under the contract, the state will retain a 5-percent royalty in the gross profit from the mine. Pacomingco is a consortium of four local miners awarded the right to explore the 1,620-hectare Upper Ulip-Paraiso area, the first portion of the 8,100-hectare Mt. Diwalwal mineral reservation. Blackstone won the bidding for the second portion — the 1,296-hectare Letter V parcel. Meanwhile, Carrascal Nickel Corp. won the third portion — the 1,359-hectare Higanteng Bato. China NonFerrous is the local unit of state-owned China Nonferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co. Ltd., while Balatoc Gold is fully owned by Romualdez-led Benguet Corp., the country’s oldest mining firm. Philex is the country’s largest miner, with projects in Benguet and Tubod, Surigao del Norte, while Geograce operates the Ayungon project in Ayungon, Negros Oriental and another site in Dinapigue, Isabela. Benguet and Philex are both listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange. Mt. Sinai Mining won the right to explore and develop the Pantukan gold mine also in Compostela Valley, which the government bid out last year. — NPA, GMANews.TV