MAKILALA MINING Co., Inc., a subsidiary of Australia-based Celsius Resources Ltd., said it obtained a $76.4-million loan from the Philippine sovereign wealth fund to support preliminary work on its copper-gold project in the Cordillera Administrative Region.
The company said funds from the Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC) investment will support its Maalinao-Caigutan-Biyog Project.
MIC will fully finance the updating of the feasibility study and front-end engineering design for the project in Kalinga province, it added.
The miner said the government’s investment arm will also “partially” fund early development activities, including main access road construction in coordination with Kalinga province and skills training for the Balatoc community.
“The proceeds of the facility mark a critical milestone in the project’s funding, enabling immediate commencement of work with the initial funding amount of $10 million,” the company said.
It said the works will no longer require direct funding from the parent company.
“Discussions on the additional equity funding required are ongoing, given total estimated capital expenditure of the project,” Makilala said.
“We look forward to updating investors once binding equity agreements have been finalized.”
MIC Chief Executive Officer, Rafael D. Consing, Jr. said the wealth fund envisions the Maalinao-Caigutan-Biyog Copper-Gold project as a benchmark for the government’s push to encourage the industry to look “beyond responsible mining.” — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza