Wellex focusing on mining, exploration projects

Gatchalian company Wellex Industries Inc. will shift its focus to mining an oil exploration ventures from manufacturing and warehousing. Weslie Gatchalian, Wellex Industries president, told reporters on Friday that the company has filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Philippine Stock Exchange to change the company’s direction. “By the second quarter of the year, we will have an announcement regarding our mining venture. We are looking into acquiring properties in the Palawan and the Caraga region (Region 12) and Dinagat (located in Northeast Mindanao) and other neighboring areas for mining copper and nickel and also gold and silver," he said. Caraga region is composed of five provinces: Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur; three cities: Butuan, Surigao and Bislig; 70 municipalities and 1,346 barangays. Butuan City is the regional center. Eduardo Manalac, Wellex Industries chairman, added that the company is allotting anywhere between P10 million and P15 million in its initial capital outlay for its mining venture. “Initially, we will be using internally-generated funds for this venture," Manalac said. Gatchalian said the company is looking to China as its main market for its mining venture. He added that the company has left manufacturing plastics but maintained its warehousing business. Wellex was originally incorporated in 1956 as Republic Resources and Development Corp. to primarily engage in the business of mining and oil exploration. But due to difficulties experienced by the oil and mining industries during the 1980s, the company's pursuit of activities to revitalize itself led to the entry of The Wellex Group Inc. (TWGI) in 1994. The company was subsequently transformed into a holding company for manufacturing concerns, and changed its name to Wellex Industries Inc. on September 18, 1997. - Cheryl Arcibal, GMANews.TV