Philex allots P700M for mining projects

Philex Mining Corp., a major copper and gold producer in the country, is allotting P700 million for its capital expenditures next year, according to a company official.

However, Philex president and chief operating officer Jose Ernesto Villaluna Jr. said the programmed capital budget is lower than this year’s budget of P1 bilion.

The company is planning to undertake feasibility studies on its mining site in Negros, Carraga and Zamboanga.

With the increasing prices of minerals and metals worldwide, Philex plans to increase its production next year to 120,000 ounces of gold and 40 million pounds of copper.

Philex expects its net profit to grow more than seven-fold this year to P3 billion compared with only P409.1 million a year earlier on the back of higher output as prices of copper and gold continue to escalate.

The company’s gold output is expected to reach 113,000 to 115,000 ounces while copper output is expected to reach 35 million to 37 million pounds by the end of the year.

Last year, Philex’s gold output hit 87,000 ounces while copper output was 28 million pounds.

In the nine months ending September this year, Philex’s net profit has already reached P2.2 billion, nine times higher than the P236.4 million profit in the same period last year. Operating revenues jumped 79 percent to P7.2 billion from only P4 billion last year, also due to higher output.

The higher income was derived from higher metal prices at $3.23 per pound of copper and $590 per ounce of gold as compared to $1.63 per pound of copper and $409 per ounce of gold in the same period last year.