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MANILA, Philippines - The country's biggest miner on Tuesday said production from its Padcal mine reached P1.203 billion in March this year.
Philex Mining Corp. told the local bourse that gold production reached P677 million; copper, P513 million; and silver, P13 million.
"The estimated value of production in March 2012 was based on provisional metal prices of $1,1662 per ounce gold, $3.85 per pound copper, and $32.43 per ounce of silver at the exchange rate of P42.92 to a dollar," Philex said.
The Padcal mine delivered 795, 682 dry metric tons of ore resulting in 5,725 dry metric tons of concentrates containing 51.60 grams of gold, 24.60 percent copper, and 52.63 grams of silver. These yielded 9,498 ounces of gold, 3,104,606 pounds of copper, and 9,688 ounces of silver.
Philex earlier reaffirmed the extension of the Padcal’s mine life from September 2017 to December 2020, based on the evaluation of the mine’s reserves of 80.8 million tons as of December 2011.
Although declining grades of ore are expected from Padcal, the extension of the mine life to 2020 ramps up reserves to 739,000 ounces of gold and 313.6 million pounds of copper for the next nine years.
Philex said the Padcal mine produced an estimated P2.5 billion worth of ore in the first two months of this year, slightly lower than the P2.71 billion estimated output in the same period last year.
The company is exploring the areas surrounding the Padcal mine as part of its drive to prolong its life to the optimum extent possible. It has more than 15,000 hectares of open ground in which several areas have been targeted for drilling, if not are already being drilled.
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