KASIBU, Nueva Vizcaya: An Asia-Pacific mining firm here has procured additional units of trucks for its fleet to efficiently transport its daily processed copper concentrate from the mine site to its destination in an international seaport in La Union province. OceanaGold Philippines, Inc. (OGPI) officials said the additional 20 units of trucks was procured “to complete a transport fleet tasked to carry its copper concentrate products” from the Didipio Mine to a seaport in San Fernando City, La Union. Officials said the six by four dump trucks can load up to 18 tons of dry copper concentrates produced in the village of Didipio here. OceanaGold’s Didipio Mine is reportedly producing about 300 tons daily which requires at least 17 trucks to move the mine’s daily production output. Officials said the newly acquired transport equipment will also mean additional employment to villagers in the mine site; it will be manned by 60 drivers and 21 administrative and technical support personnel or a total of 81 new workers employed. In a statement, OceanaGold has prioritized qualified local applicants in the hiring process “to ensure economic gains are returned back to the host communities.” “The lifeblood of the Didipio Mine is our copper concentrates which we sell to various smelters in Asia. Thus, we need an efficient and dependable transport fleet to maximize our profit,” said Brennan Lang, General Manager of OceanaGold’s Didipio Mines operations. Brennan said OceanaGold has an offtake agreement with a trading firm Trafigura PTE Ltd. to purchase and market Didipio Copper concentrates to international buyers. Last May, the Company declared commencement of commercial production at its Didipio copper-gold project in the province. The company is a significant Asia Pacific gold producer with projects located on the South Island of New Zealand and in the Philippines. Its assets encompass New Zealand’s largest gold mining operation at the Macraes goldfield in Otago, which is made up of the Macraes Open Pit and the Frasers Underground mines. Additionally on the west coast of the South Island, the company operates the Reefton Open Pit mine. The company’s Didipio Project in Northern Luzon is expected to produce 100,000 ounces of gold and 14,000 tons of copper per year on average over an estimated 16- year mine life.
Posted on: Sat, 14 Sep 2013 11:29:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015