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Thursday, Jul 17, 2025
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OceanaGold Allocates $5 Million for Philippine Exploration in 2023
The Australian-Canadian mining firm plans to enhance its operations in the Philippines, targeting a significant drilling campaign this year.
OceanaGold Philippines Inc. (OGPI), an Australian-Canadian mining company, has announced a budget of $5 million (approximately 280 million Philippine pesos) to fund exploration activities within its 7,000-hectare permit area for the year.
This investment reflects the firm's ongoing commitment to finding new resources in the region.
As part of its exploration strategy, OGPI plans to carry out approximately 8,000 meters of drilling from the surface in its financial or technical assistance agreement (FTAA) area located at True Blue, identifying it as a potential off-set extension of the existing Didipio Mine, as well as the Napartan and D’Fox sites.
The company indicated that underground exploration drilling is expected to continue into the fourth quarter of this year.
In its exploration efforts, OGPI has noted significant potential around the Didipio mine, emphasizing its recent achievements in discovering and converting sufficient gold and copper resources to compensate for past extractions.
Over the past decade, from 2012 to 2024, the company reported that it has mined and converted approximately 2.6 million ounces of gold and 343,000 metric tons of copper into reserves.
When OGPI commenced operations in 2012, the Didipio mine held reserves of 1.68 million ounces of gold and 229,000 metric tons of copper.
By the end of 2024, the remaining reserves were approximately 1.23 million ounces of gold and 150,000 metric tons of copper, highlighting the company's effectiveness in resource management.
In 2022, OGPI initiated plans to explore the possibility of discovering another mine similar to Didipio as part of its expansion program, allocating an initial $2 million for the exploration efforts last year.
OceanaGold Corp. Chairman Paul Benson noted that the mineral industry has the potential to generate significant economic benefits, estimating that approximately $500 million (around 28 billion pesos) in export revenue is projected to flow into the Philippines this year as a result of their mining operations.
Despite facing challenges, OGPI reported a 36-percent decrease in net income for the first quarter of the year, attributing this decline to reduced gold output.
The company’s net earnings fell to $7.4 million, down from $11.5 million during the same period last year.
Looking to the future, for 2025, OGPI has set production targets of between 85,000 and 105,000 ounces of gold and between 13,000 and 15,000 metric tons of copper.
This investment reflects the firm's ongoing commitment to finding new resources in the region.
As part of its exploration strategy, OGPI plans to carry out approximately 8,000 meters of drilling from the surface in its financial or technical assistance agreement (FTAA) area located at True Blue, identifying it as a potential off-set extension of the existing Didipio Mine, as well as the Napartan and D’Fox sites.
The company indicated that underground exploration drilling is expected to continue into the fourth quarter of this year.
In its exploration efforts, OGPI has noted significant potential around the Didipio mine, emphasizing its recent achievements in discovering and converting sufficient gold and copper resources to compensate for past extractions.
Over the past decade, from 2012 to 2024, the company reported that it has mined and converted approximately 2.6 million ounces of gold and 343,000 metric tons of copper into reserves.
When OGPI commenced operations in 2012, the Didipio mine held reserves of 1.68 million ounces of gold and 229,000 metric tons of copper.
By the end of 2024, the remaining reserves were approximately 1.23 million ounces of gold and 150,000 metric tons of copper, highlighting the company's effectiveness in resource management.
In 2022, OGPI initiated plans to explore the possibility of discovering another mine similar to Didipio as part of its expansion program, allocating an initial $2 million for the exploration efforts last year.
OceanaGold Corp. Chairman Paul Benson noted that the mineral industry has the potential to generate significant economic benefits, estimating that approximately $500 million (around 28 billion pesos) in export revenue is projected to flow into the Philippines this year as a result of their mining operations.
Despite facing challenges, OGPI reported a 36-percent decrease in net income for the first quarter of the year, attributing this decline to reduced gold output.
The company’s net earnings fell to $7.4 million, down from $11.5 million during the same period last year.
Looking to the future, for 2025, OGPI has set production targets of between 85,000 and 105,000 ounces of gold and between 13,000 and 15,000 metric tons of copper.
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