Australia's Indophil buys out Alsons group in Tampakan mine

GENERAL SANTOS — Indophil Resources NL has bought the remaining stake of Filipino conglomerate Alsons Corp. in the Tampakan copper-gold project in Mindanao, the Australian firm said. Gavan Collery, Indophil Resources corporate affairs manager, said the firm had issued 25.9 million shares to Alsons last month as payment for its 3.27-percent interest. This will bring to 37.5 percent Indophil Resources' stake in Tampakan, Collery said. Alsons now owns 3.8 percent of Indophil Resources. Xstrata Copper, the world's fourth-largest copper producer, holds the remaining 62.5 percent of the Tampakan project. The project is managed by Sagittarius Mines, Inc., the Philippine company holding the financial and technical assistance agreement granted by the government. Anita Krauser, Indophil company secretary, said Alsons' 3.27-percent interest in the Tampakan project will be registered to Indophil. Indophil hastened its acquisition of Alsons' stake in the project under a deal with Alsons last Dec. 1, Krauser said. The issue of 25.9 million shares to Alsons completes Indophil's obligations to Alsons in relation to the acquisition, she added. Alsons officials were not immediately available for. Alsons held a 5 percent stake in Sagittarius but forged a deal with Indophil to acquire the stake gradually based on certain "project milestones." The first milestone allowed Indophil to raise its interest in the Tampakan project to 34.23 percent from 32.5 percent. Indophil's acquisition of Alsons' remaining 3.27-percent stake is part of the condition of Chinese giant Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd., the largest gold producer and the third-largest copper producer in China, in taking over the Australian firm. Indophil Resources' major asset is its stake in Tampakan, which is being opposed by the Catholic Church and threatened by the communist New People's Army. On at least two occasions since 2008, communist guerillas attacked Sagittarius Mines in the town of Tampakan in South Cotabato. The Tampakan project straddles South Cotabato and the municipalities of Columbio in Sultan Kudarat and Kiblawan in Davao del Sur. Zijin offered to buy out Indophil through unit Golden Resource Mining, Ltd., for A$1.28 per share or a total of A$545 million. Zijin's offer, which will end on March 19, has been recommended by Indophil Resources' directors in the absence of a superior offer. Collery earlier announced that the Australian government's Federal Treasurer had approved Zijin's acquisition of Indophil Resources. The Tampakan mine has estimated resources of 2.4 billion tons of ore at a grade of 0.6 percent copper and 0.2 grams of gold per ton, containing 13.5 million tons of copper and 15.8 million ounces of gold, using a 0.3 percent copper cutoff grade, the latest company study said. — Romer S. Sarmiento, BusinessWorld