OceanaGold, Trafigura enter deal over PHL copper and gold shipments

Australia’s OceanaGold Corp. and China-based commodity trader Trafigura has signed and initial deal over shipments of copper and gold concentrates from the Didipio mines in the Philippines.

 

The agreement was a significant milestone for the Didipio Project which will be commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2012, OceanaGold managing director and CEO Mick Wilkes said in a statement Tuesday.

 

OceanaGold will sell all copper and gold concentrates mined from the site in Nueva Vizcaya to Trafigura at competitive terms and conditions that include treatment and refining charges.

 

"The copper/gold concentrate produced from Didipio will be high quality and we are very pleased with the commercially competitive terms that we have agreed with Trafigura,” Wilkes noted.

 

“We look forward to having Trafigura as a partner for the Didipio operation and a successful long-term relationship with them," he added.

 

OceanaGold Phils. Inc., the local subsidiary of OceanaGold Corp., operates and is developing the Didipio mine in Nueva Vizcaya.

 

“We are very pleased to be working with OceanaGold as an offtake partner on the world class Didipio Project,” said Trafigura board member Jeremy Weir.

 

“This highlights Trafigura’s ability to bring commercial value to our partners, and our capability in providing inland logistics and infrastructure as part of the value chain,” Weir noted, saying, “The concentrate will be delivered to our copper smelting clients throughout Asia.

 

“This demonstrates our commitment to the Philippines and across South East Asia, and we will continue to support the mining sector’s growth in the region,” he added.

 

Trafigura and OceanaGold expect to have a final and binding five-year contract in the near future, which starts when production at Didipio begins.

 

Didipio will have a capital of $185 million, largely funded from OceanaGold’s mining operations in New Zealand.

 

Using open pit technology, OceanaGold will proceed with larger open pit to sustain higher output and ore supply. — VS, GMA News