Philex shipments up 16% in Jan-May

MANILA, Philippines - Philex Mining Corp., the country’s most profitable miner, said the value of its shipments increased by 16 percent in the first five months of the year to P5.48 billion from P4.72 billion in the same period in 2011.

In May alone, Philex completed shipments with an estimated gross value of P1.15 billion, slightly higher than the P1.11 billion worth of concentrates shipped the previous year.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Philex said it effected five shipments containing 24,950 dry metric tons of concentrates from January to May this year as against four shipments amounting to 20,150 DMT the year before.

Philex president Eulalio B. Austin Jr. said the shipment contained about 9,182 ounces of gold, 2.89 million pounds of copper and 9,011 ounces of silver.

This translates to about P656 million from gold, P477 million from copper and P12 million from silver based on average provisional metal prices of $1,649 per ounce of gold, $3.82 per pound of copper and $30.55 per ounce of silver.

Meanwhile, Philex reported that the value of output from its Padcal mine last month was P1.16 billion from 798,022 DMT of ore resulting in 5,487 DMT of concentrates.

The concentrates contained 57.15 grams of gold per DMT, 26.05 percent copper and 52.68 grams per DMT of silver; equivalent to 10,083 ounces of gold, 3.15 million pounds of copper and 9,294 ounces of silver.

The gross value of P1.16 billion consists of P685 million from gold, P467 million from copper, and P11 million from silver, based on provisional metal prices of $1,563 per ounce of gold, $3.41 per pound of copper and $28.10 per ounce of silver at the exchange rate of P43.50 to the dollar.

For the first five months of the year, the Padcal mine’s output was slightly higher at 3.86 million DMT of ore from 3.85 million DMT last year but value dipped to P5.98 billion from P6.72 billion as metal prices adjusted from record levels last year.