Tampakan
MANILA (Reuters): The Philippines' biggest mining project, the Tampakan copper-gold site in Mindanao, may begin commercial operations at the earliest in the last quarter of 2026, the chief executive of project developer Sagittarius Mines Inc. said on Friday (Aug 4).
Regulatory concerns over the Tampakan project, which had been hampered by a 12-year provincial ban on open-pit mining that was lifted last year, have been "reduced to almost zero", Sagittarius president and CEO Roy Deveraturda said in a speech at an industry forum.
Tampakan will have a life of more than 40 years, with development cost for what is believed to be one of the largest copper deposits in the world now seen at US$1.1 billion, he said.
The project in the southern province of South Cotabato covers an area of about 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres), and is estimated to contain 15 million tonnes of copper and 17.6 million ounces of gold, according to Sagittarius.
Sagittarius, which is fully owned by Filipino company Indophil Resources Phils. Inc, is open to new investors in rolling out the Tampakan project, including foreigners, Deveraturda said.
