Aussie miner eyes start of P150-M commercial ops in 2012

An Australian miner on Thursday announced that its $150-million Runruno project in Nueva Vizcaya could begin commercial operations by the second half of 2012, opening the possibility that it could outrun its fellow large-scale contractors. FCP Minerals, a subsidiary of Australian firm Metals Exploration, has submitted its declaration of mining feasibility to the government, said the company’s country manager Craig Watkins in a speech at the Mining Philippines 2011 Conference. Its fellow large-scale contractors, OceanaGold and Sagittarius Mines, are meanwhile bound to start commercial production by end-2013 and end-2016, respectively. Earlier, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) announced that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has assessed and approved the Runruno project. DENR Secretary Ramon Paje will endorse the project for the President’s approval next week, MGB director Leo Jasareno said. A recent resource mapping showed that the project will produce a million ounces of gold within a 10.3-year mine life. The company’s average annual production is pegged at 101.8 ounces of gold. From the first to the fifth year, gold production is expected at a level of 101.8 ounces annually, with output scaled down to 92 ounces from the sixth to the tenth year. Watkins said the project will use the open-pit technology to extract ores, with a processing plant to produce gold as a primary product and molybdenum as a secondary product. The project will occupy a 400-hectare area within Barangay Runruno in Quezon, Nueva Vizcaya. — PE/VS, GMA News