OceanaGold Philippines is spending nearly P2.5 billion to P3 billion (US$45 to US$55 million) in capital expenditures (capex) for the Didipio copper-gold project for 2024, involving further drilling activities on existing mine holes.
OceanaGold president Joan Adaci-Cattiling said this year’s capex is not much compared to previous years, but global gold prices hitting record-high in 2023 drives the company to further improve output.
“Last year was a good year in terms of gold prices. We’re hoping prices will be sustained this year,” she said in a briefing.
Gold prices averaged a record of $1,940.54 per ounce (oz) in 2023 after hitting an all-time high of $2,078 per oz. Demand for gold in the fourth quarter was 8 percent above the five-year average.
The Didipio project produced 139,000 ounces (oz) of gold and 14,200 oz of copper in 2023. The company expects to sustain the same level of output, if not higher, in 2024.
Cattiling said the mining firm is paying P420 million in local business tax that goes to all host municipalities on top of the share of the national government.
Under a financial and technical assistance agreement (FTAA), revenue sharing between the government and the miner is 60:40, with the biggest share going to the national government as owner of the natural resource.
While mining for copper and gold within the current mine site, the Australian mining subsidiary is also doing extended drilling on existing holes to look for more mineral deposits.
“We actually got the agreements to do drilling outside of the current mine site. But this hasn’t commenced yet,” said Cattiling, adding that the company has drilled about a third of the 975-hectares of existing mine site where current production comes from. The entire tenement is about 7,750 hectares.
The Didipio copper-gold project started to operate commercially on 2013 as the second biggest producer of gold in the country. It is one of two FTAA projects and holds the distinction of being the first FTAA in the Philippines.
