Australia’s OceanaGold Corp. has announced that the Philippines has renewed its contract for the Didipio gold and copper mine for another 25 years. The operation had been halted for almost two years due to a dispute with the provincial government over the company’s license to operate.
According to OceanaGold, the renewed Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) applies retroactively from June 19, 2019, and keeps financial terms and conditions unchanged. It does however provide an additional 1.5% of gross revenue to be allocated to regional communities and provinces that host the operation.
OceanaGold kicked off the renewal of the 25-year permit in 2018. After it expired in June 2019, the company kept Didipio operating under a temporary license, but a blockade backed by the local government forced the Brisbane-based miner to suspend operations a few weeks later. It also had to lay off hundreds of workers.
Oceana’s statement now says, “The company’s first operational priority is the rehiring and training of its Philippine workforce, which will include a focus on safeguarding workers from the current risks associated with covid-19.”
The miner also said that the operations will resume initially with the milling of stockpiled ore of about 19 million tonnes. Didipio, which began production in 2013 and is located 270 km north of Manila, has a measured and indicated resource of 1.3 million ounces of gold and 160,000 tonnes of copper.
OceanaGold aims to achieve full underground production capacity within 12 months, with Didipio slated to generate about 10,000 ounces of gold and 1,000 tonnes of copper per month once production is fully ramped up.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
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