OceanaGold seeks partners for troubled Philippine project

Australian miner, OceanaGold, has announced that it is currently in discussions with various parties regarding strategic options for its Didipio project in the Northern Philippines.

The company needs to raise $185 million to continue with the project and is considering joint venture and/or merger opportunities in relation to the troubled copper and gold mine.

The $320 million project is scheduled for production in 2009 and is designed for an annual throughput of 2.5 million tonnes of ore per annum from open pit and underground mining.

Annual metal production will average approximately 120,000 ounces of gold and 15,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate in the first ten years of production.

However, local opposition to the mine has caused delays and legal difficulties.

In May the governor of Nueva Vizcaya province in the Philippines led a protest group that erected a barricade on the road leading to the remote project and earlier this month, Oceana issued a denial of Philippine media articles that claimed an inquiry by the Philippine Commission on Human Rights is being conducted into the Didipio development project.