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Eulalio Austin Jr, CEO of Philex, the largest gold producer in the Philippines, said the company will develop Silangan copper and gold mines in the first half of next year.
Operations will begin at the end of 2024 or early 2025, said Romeo Banchoco, the chief financial officer.
According to foreign media reports, Philex executives spoke at a news conference on December 21.
Austin said Silangan, one of the country's three largest gold mines, would scale back its plans because it was unable to find foreign investors for the project.
"We haven't received any good news from investors," he said. "in the past, we needed $760 million to start the project, but we couldn't get investors, so we needed to start the project with less capacity."
Banchoco said that Philex would take a "phased development approach" to Silangan, which would require only an initial investment of US $224 million. The $224 million will be raised through planned share placements, loans and cash injections.
After this investment, the project still needs US $1.5 billion. Philex will now consider this amount as part of its annual continuing capital expenditure.
As part of the phased development approach, Philex will extend the project in phases. Banchoco said Silangan will reach full capacity after 10 years of operation.
