The Mines and Geosciences Bureau on Tuesday said that it has granted the application of Philsaga Mining Corp. for an amended environmental compliance certificate, allowing the company to increase gold production in its mine in Agusan del Sur.

In an interview, Mines Director Leo Jasareno said that Philsaga, the local arm of Australian miner Medusa Mining Corp., was able to secure an amended ECC for the construction of a new mill in its Co-O gold mine.

“They plan to increase gold production in Co-O mine,” Jasareno said, noting that the new mill is expected to be commissioned in mid-2013.

In an earlier disclosure to the Australian Stock Exchange, Medusa said that the new mill will have a processing capacity of 2, 500 metric tons of ore a day.

As of fiscal year 2012 ending on June 30, the Co-O mine produced 60,595 ounces of gold at a recovery grade of 8.10 gram a ton (g/t) of gold, down from the previous year’s production of 101,474 ounces of gold at a recovery grade of 12.3g/t of gold.

But once the new mill is fully operational, Medusa said that the production guidance for the next fiscal year will be placed between 100,000 to 120,000 ounces of gold.

The restoration of the Co-O mine’s tilted leach tanks, the completion of a new large leach tank and the recommissioning of the damaged Baguio Shaft is expected to contribute to increased output for 2013.

In March 2012, the company has lowered its production guidance for the mine to 60,000 ounces of gold from 65,000 ounces after tremors triggered by a magnitude 6.9 earthquake in Negros Island in February, causing four large leach mill tanks to tilt.

The leach tanks were decommissioned for five months for repair.

The four tilted leach tanks have been returned to service while the construction of the new large leach tank have been completed in mid-August.

The company has also announced that the Baguio Shaft has been recommissioned in October after it was damaged by a fire in August, which was caused by sparks brought by welding activities. The re-timbered and reengineered shaft was returned to service earlier than the estimated rehabilitation period of three months.

The recommissioned shaft has an increased haulage capacity of 350 tons or ore a day from the previous 250 tons of ore a day from the previous 250 tons of ore s day.

The Co-O gold mine was also saved from the onslaught of typhoon Pablo (international codename: Bopha) last month. Milling operations were stopped when the storm passed through the mine on December 4 but were resumed shortly after.