Skip to main content

MMIH to acquire new exploration project in Philippines

Published by , Editor
Global Mining Review,


Mining and Mineral Industries Holding Pte. Ltd. (MMIH) would like to announce that it will be signing a sale and purchase agreement (the S&P Agreement) soon with IXWA Investments Ltd to acquire the issued and paid-up share capital of SEMCO Exploration and Mining Corp. (SEMCO) in the Philippines via a share swap.

SEMCO holds the exploration rights to an area of 4395 ha. near Cabadbaran within the Surigao-Agusan mineral district. The area is highly mineralised and various copper and gold prospects occur throughout the tenements, with the gold prospects mainly to the west and copper prospects found to the east, and south-east striking structural trends with similarly oriented diorite strikes. Further copper prospects occur in the central part seemingly related to grano-syenite intrusive rocks, and to the south-east related to various intrusive dioritic stocks.

SEMCO has undertaken a considerable amount of exploration including mapping, extensive soil sampling, petrography, geophysics and scout drilling and has spent approximately US$8.5 million in exploration costs to date. From 2006 – 2012, SRK Consulting supervised the exploration activities and identified three main gold prospects and five porphyry copper prospects within the entire tenement. The Induced Polarisation (IP) survey conducted by Austhai Geophysical Consultants in 2018 has identified six priority gold and porphyry copper targets, which will be followed up on.

The drilling results would indicate at least three types of copper mineralisation: a) minor carapace mineralisation with low grade copper mineralisation, b) porphyry copper related, high grade quartz vein and structurally controlled, and c) porphyry copper – molybdenum stockwork mineralisation. With the variety of copper mineralisation styles and number of prospects, there is potential for medium to high grade structurally controlled copper deposits as well as for larger low-grade porphyry copper deposits.

Gold mineralisation is the vein type with two types recognised: an earlier quartz sulfide vein/stockwork with elevated copper and low-grade gold, plus a later gold-quartz clay veins which has been the target of small scale miners. More detailed mapping to trace the extent of the gold mineralisation will be undertaken when road access has improved.

Within SEMCO’s exploration area lies a 20 ha/ tenement under the Minahang Bayan initiative (Peoples Mining Area), which is area granted by the Philippine government to individual miners for carrying out small scale mining activities. As such, SEMCO is entitled to a royalty from the gold produced by the small-scale miners, at a percentage to be negotiated. SEMCO will be working closely with the indigenous communities so that due regard for their safety and the environment is considered paramount.

Kunal Awasthy, President of MMIH, commented: “In addition to being an interesting gold exploration project, the SEMCO tenements can generate cashflow in terms of royalties from small scale miners. The potential for porphyry copper–gold mineralisation also exists. MMIH will also be in a position to assist the host communities not only in terms of employment opportunities and livelihood training, but also in improving the current conditions in health, education, etc. Furthermore. MMIH remains interested in a listing in Singapore and is building up a mining portfolio that we believe will be of great interest to potential investors.”

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/exploration-development/01092020/mmih-to-acquire-new-exploration-project-in-philippines/

You might also like

EMI

Electrification in Mining virtual conference

Join us on 16 April 2024 for Global Mining Review's first Electrification in Mining event is an interactive virtual conference, focusing on electrification as the future of sustainable mining and exploring the innovative approaches and technologies being developed to facilitate its implementation.

Register for FREE »

 
 
 

Embed article link: (copy the HTML code below):


 

This article has been tagged under the following:

Asian mining news Gold mining news