OceanaGold to drill Didipio mine in Nueva Vizcaya before 2011 ends

OceanaGold Phils. Inc. — a subsidiary of Melbourne, Austrialia-based OceanaGold Corp. — plans to drill its Didipio copper-gold project in Nueva Vizcaya before 2011 ends, and expand the exploration to different ore bodies. “There is strong potential for another porphyry system within our Didipio tenements. There are other options for new ore bodies and we’re confident we will be successful in exploration at Didipio, but getting into production is the main objective," managing director and CEO Mick Wilkes said in a statement Tuesday. OceanaGold is spending around $5 million a year on exploration to widen the extent of resources and reserves that can be mined. Currently, the company has spent $30 million in permit and license fees, and exploration and contributions to community development. “We’ve almost finished the upgrade of the access road, we’ve started construction of the accommodation and we’ve almost finished bulk earthworks for the plant site. We’re about to start civil works for the plant and we plan to start pouring concrete by November for the mill foundations," Wilkes said. Around 75 percent of the engineering design is almost finished, with Australian firm Ausenco expected to finish the design by the end of the year. There is sufficient fund for the Didipio project, according to OceanaGold Phils., saying it still has $190 million to cover the $185 million in estimated capital cost. “We have some convertible notes that mature at the end of next year and we expect to be able to fund those through cash flow," said Wilkes. The company is also talking to several banks about creating a revolving credit facility as insurance. The Didipio project has an average output of 100,000 ounces of gold and 14,000 metric tons (MT) of copper annually over the mine’s 16-year life span. Its gold reserves are estimated at 1.68 million ounces copper reserves are at 229 MT. — BC/VS, GMA News