Apex Mining discovers gold in Compostela Valley

Listed Apex Mining Co. disclosed Wednesday that it found gold in its Maco Mine project in Compostela Valley in Mindanao’s Davao region. Apex said in a regulatory filing that it began a new exploration program to look into the possibility of extending its Bonanza vein system and other mineralized vein systems in the area. The results from the drilling exploration program revealed a "high grade" mineralized vein located 70 meters northwest of the previously determined limit of the vein. "The mineralized zone contains highly anomalous gold mineralization averaging 209.5 g/t [grams per ton] gold," Apex noted. Earlier, Apex said that it looks forward to producing 25,000 ounces of gold in 2010. Gold production in the six months to June have already risen 41.4 percent to 12,142 ounces. Apex Mining also plans to increase ore production from underground mining operations from 500 million tons per day to 700 million tons by September. The company is targeting ore production to reach 200,000 tons. Apex Mining has two 25-year mineral production sharing agreements with the government composed of 1,558.5-hectare and 679-hectare sites in Barangays Teresa and Masara, Maco, Compostela Valley. —Jesse Edep/VS, GMANews.TV