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BY Katrina Mennen A. Valdez, Reporter
ATLAS Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. said its subsidiary
is set to resume its copper production in Toledo, Cebu, with the
near completion of its rehabilitation.
Atlas unit Carmen Copper Corp.
operates the Toledo mine.
In a disclosure to the
Philippines Stock Exchange, Atlas said Phase-1 of its rehabilitation
of the Toledo plant is almost done, adding the company recently
installed process facilities and equipment to start its operation
within the month.
Under its mine feasibility plan,
Phase-1 operation would entail producing and processing 20,000
metric tons of copper ore per day.
Further, Atlas said that initial
ore is being sourced and mined by open-cast method from the South
Lutopan ore body with over 150,000 metric tons already on stockpile
and about 600,000 metric tons exposed for mining.
Open-cast mines are used when
deposits of commercially useful minerals or rock are found near the
surface; that is, where the overburden or the surface material
covering the valuable deposit is relatively thin or the material of
interest is structurally unsuitable for tunneling.
When the second phase of the
rehabilitation is done, the company intends to operate at
full-capacity, processing 42,000 tons per day and producing 130
million pounds of copper, 70,000 ounces of gold, 260,000 ounces of
silver, 160,000 dry metric tons of pyrite and 440,000 dry metric
tons of iron ore magnetite a year.
The company earlier said it
expects to seal a multimillion-dollar loan for its mining ventures,
after reaching a verbal agreement with an unspecified global capital
fund for a $20-million bridge loan facility.
It said the bridge loan may be
transformed into a convertible loan, the terms of which shall
provide for a conversion price of P12.60 per share. This means that
if the lender agrees to the terms, it would take an ownership stake
in Atlas.
Atlas plans to use the loan
proceeds for the mining operations of Carmen Copper. Atlas had inked
a mineral sharing and production agreement with the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources for an area of about 648 hectares
in Carmen’s contract area in Toledo.
Atlas earlier raised $140 million
for its unit’s rehabilitation activities through loans from
Deutsche Bank and Crescent Asian Special Opportunities Portfolio.
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