New Nueva Vizcaya mining project set to start commercial operations

SANTIAGO CITY, Isabela, Philippines – Another national government-sanctioned large-scale mining project in Nueva Vizcaya is set to start commercial operations this year, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) said.

MGB regional director Mario Ancheta said British-owned FCF Minerals, which operates the Runruno Gold-Molybdenum Project in Quezon town, will commence full commercial operation within the third quarter or early fourth quarter.

Ancheta said the company is now in the final stage of debugging its  gold processing plant in Runruno Village and is also on a test run in producing gold bars. 

“We approved the request of FCF to ship out gold produced in the test run due to security concerns. Of course, corresponding taxes were all paid. The Bureau of Customs has properly documented the shipment,” Ancheta said during an environment forum held at Zen Hotel here last week.  

Ancheta said FCF Minerals, a local subsidiary of London-based Metals Exploration, has an existing financial and technical assistance agreements (FTAA) with the government to undertake the gold-molybdenum project.

FCF Minerals was also awarded the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001:2015 for mining operations and processing of gold.

The project has been endorsed in 2011 by the provincial board as well as the host tow of Quezon and barangay council following more than five years of exploration and community development activities in the area.

FCF also spent at least $149 million for its construction phase, aside from the development projects it further committed to undertake. 

Peter Storey, general manager of FCF Minerals, said the company developed Runruno as a surface cut and fill mine with an adjacent processing plant to produce gold ore as the primary product.