A resource is only as good as its connection with community and stakeholders. With that in mind, a lack of understanding of the key drivers and what relevant stakeholders want from the resource – in particular, communities, local governments and national governments – can lead to a resource and the company behind it being meaningless.
Therefore, what makes a good resources company is people. Understanding people. Their needs. Their motivations. And most of all their good intentions are paramount to the success of a company.
It is those intentions that Celsius Resources Ltd (ASX:CLA) executive director Peter Hume has spent 40 years tracking in all of his various roles.
In this article:
- A career explodes
- The importance of mentorship
- Growing government support for MCB
- Project attraction
- Other projects
- Good habits build communities
A career explodes
Celsius Resources’ executives have more on their mind than just copper and gold exploration in the Philippines. Celsius aims to make a financial, economic and social impact that turns around the perception of mining.
Led by executive director Peter Hume, Celsius is a community-driven company. Its focus is a portfolio of world-class copper-gold assets in the Philippines, including the flagship project Maalinao-Caigutan-Biyog (MCB Project) in Luzon, 320 kilometres north of Manila, with good access to key transport and export infrastructure.
The project represents a cornerstone in CLA’s vision to become an environmentally sustainable producer of copper and gold via numerous operating mines in the Philippines, generating wealth for shareholders whilst simultaneously enhancing the well-being of the local communities in the regions in which the company operates.
That community focus is something Hume has always strived for. Following graduation, he witnessed the hardship of rising unemployment and understood early on what it meant to have a job.
He was fortunate that his father, who worked in engineering, came home one day and said, ‘I've got a job for you’.
Hume became a tradesman building trains. He worked in sugar mills and expanded his education beyond the classroom, eventually finding himself in the mining industry.
“My first management role was managing an engineering company in a small town in Queensland, Australia. Then I was adopted into the mines as part of a shutdown of the company that I was running,” Hume said.
That job led him to a company in Papua New Guinea where he spent years continuing his education, remotely receiving his engineering degree and an associate degree.
“From there I moved into the explosives industry which is also connected with the mining industry. I built explosives plants.”
Hume entered the Philippines 15 years ago and hasn’t looked back.
He first went there with Parsons Brinckerhoff as major projects executive but left Parsons for Glencore (LON:GLEN) as manager project development, where he stayed from 2009 to 2020 before becoming country operations director – Philippines with Makilala Mining Company, Inc.
Hume joined Celsius in June 2022, bringing vast Philippines experience and relationships the company could really tap into.
“I've had some great experiences offshore in Indonesia, PNG and even the Congo for a short stint but the Philippines is home for me.
“I've got a great bunch of people here. The company has a great bunch of people and I guess I've developed, or we have developed, these companies in the Philippines with a lot of younger engineers.
“I'm trying to leave some legacy behind in relation to training the young engineers up. So, you'll notice that within the company we have very young mining engineers, young geologists who are growing their experience and their in-depth knowledge of how they become involved in projects. It's quite outstanding. I've not previously seen this level of enthusiasm for developing a project.”
The importance of mentorship
Mentoring is a skillset that Hume has honed over the years and he sees it as vitally important to the growth of individuals and the companies they go on to represent.
Mentorship is about a transfer of skills to upcoming generations who can then take those skills and add their own modern flair.
This is exactly what Celsius is doing as it progresses its' projects in the Philippines. And it is having a positive effect on local communities.
“Developing countries like the Philippines have had a rocky road with the mining industry in the past; the industry doesn't have great credibility in the market. However, now is the right time for the Philippines to show that it has all its systems and processes in place for sustainable development,” Hume said.
“Those systems and processes protect the environment and the communities where mining operations are operating in. So, developing local resources through mentorship and learning is critical.
“Our local people in the Philippines now include some great engineers. It's 40 years of knowledge being passed on by me and the other directors and that is having a positive effect. For me, that is more valuable than monetary benefits.”
Below is CLA’s sustainable development policy:
Growing government support for MCB
As community support grows, so too does government support for CLA’s key project.
“The national government has made the MCB Project a priority project,” Hume tells Proactive.
“What that means is that they will expedite the permits and approvals required for us to proceed into development. The new Marcos Government has already publicly announced that it is supporting mining as one of its economic growth factors within the Philippines.”
Just a week or so after Celsius submitted documentation, the national government had assessed and referred it to the central office for approval and further deliberation.
“We're not seeing any roadblocks in relation to that from the point of view of the community where we're developing the project.
"The indigenous community, along with the provincial government and the municipal government, is in fact very supportive. The municipal government has already given us endorsements of support for the project and the indigenous community has also been very supportive.
“Investors will see some releases coming up on that in the near future.”
Celsius is moving quickly. With government support and far less red tape than Hume experienced when working in the large cap space, the company has achieved a lot in a small period of time.
“We've done a lot here in the last two years from gaining an exploration permit, to drilling, to finishing a scoping study and we've also submitted all our permits and approvals to gain a mining permit.
“From the point of view of the Philippines and just in general, I don't think a larger company could have achieved what we have achieved in that short space of time.”
Project attraction
The Celsius directors did an enormous amount of due diligence on the Freeport assets which make up the MCB project, which is held by CLA’s Philippines subsidiary, Makilala Mining Company, Inc.
The project contains a JORC mineral resource estimate comprising 313.8 million tonnes at 0.48% copper and 0.15 g/t gold, at a cut-off grade of 0.2% copper of which:
- 290.3 million tonnes at 0.48% copper are in the indicated category; and
- 23.5 million tonnes at 0.48% copper are in the inferred category.
Within the JORC resource is a high-grade core of 93.7 million tonnes at 0.80% copper and 0.28 g/t gold, at a cut-off grade of 0.5% copper.
Previous owner Freeport-McMoRan – the world’s third largest copper producer, invested more than $14.5 million in-country on this asset. Historical exploration conducted by Freeport delivered some outstanding drill intersections, including:
- 384 metres at 1.25% copper & 0.46 g/t gold, within 767 metres at 0.77% copper & 0.27 g/t gold;
- 177 metres at 1.98% copper & 0.95 g/t gold, within 630.5 metres at 0.81% copper & 0.32 g/t gold;
- 186.85 metres at 1.84% copper & 0.86 g/t gold, within 612 metres at 0.82% copper & 0.31 g/t gold;
- 243.3 metres at 1.38% copper & 0.75 g/t gold, within 505 metres at 0.87% copper & 0.38 g/t gold; and
- 92 metres at 1.80% copper & 1.12 g/t gold, within 680 metres at 0.54% copper & 0.20 g/t gold.
Certainly, its history had a lot to do with the Celsius acquisition but there was more to it.
“The due diligence didn't just go as far as technical terms. It went as far as social terms as well,” Hume said. “The community and the local governments are really in need of this project to boost their economy. From the point of view of the local government, it will take it from being a fifth-class municipality to first-class within three years.”
Hume sees the project as a mining project but one that also helps stakeholders lead better lives.
“We've given a lot of support to the local school. You must understand that this community has no phones, no internet. The roads are very bad. We are not the saviours, but we can help address several issues.
“The world needs copper for many, many reasons. The community needs an uplift to make it and its future generations more sustainable.”
Hume believes Celsius is sitting on “a great resource”, with heavyweight backing.
“There's no doubt about it. If you look at some of the grades, there's substantial high-grade copper close to the surface. It's suitable for an underground mining operation.
“And we've got a president that is an environmentalist. He is a great advocate for the project. He also fights against environmental damage, not just in the mining industry, but in different sectors. He's a true believer in what our plans are for this project to be the first green mine in the Philippines.”
Other projects
While the MCB project is CLA’s focus, the company also has a 95% interest in the highly prospective Opuwo Cobalt Project in northern Namibia which has an indicated and inferred resource of 225.5 million tonnes grading 0.12% cobalt, 0.43% copper and 0.54% zinc.
Celsius is currently assessing the project’s viability.
It also has a couple of gold projects in Australia and a second project in the Philippines which Freeport had worked on.
The Sagay Copper-Gold Project Is owned and operated by CLA’s Philippine subsidiary, Tambuli Mining Company, Inc. and is in the centre of the Philippines archipelago in the northern part of Negros Island.
Historical drilling highlights a very large-scale porphyry copper mineralisation at depth, as defined by the numerous thick drill hole intersections.
A maiden indicated and inferred mineral resource has been declared for Sagay which comprises 302 million tonnes of 0.41% copper and 0.11 g/t gold, at a lower cut-off grade of 0.2% copper.
“It's a project where Freeport had spent about $16 million previously. So, there's been extensive drilling.
“We've done some drilling but stopped for the minute because there were some abnormalities in the drill hole results.
“We have just released our JORC, so it'll move away from being just an exploration project to a viable project.
“The grade isn't as good as MCB, but the volume is quite large and again there is quite a supportive community as well as local government in the area.”
Good relationships build communities
Companies should put effort into knowing the communities they are working within.
Hume goes into the communities where CLA is operating and he sleeps there; he stays with them and understands what they are going through.
“If you really want to gain the respect of the community, you just can't have a flying visit and leave again. You need to create a bond and a connection with every community.
“I might be the director of the company and executive director of Celsius but that doesn't stop me from sleeping, living with the community, eating with them, attending their weddings, attending their wakes.
“That's the connection that you need to have. If you don't have that connection, then how do you understand what their drivers are, which eventually you must acknowledge as your drivers in delivering a sustainable project.
It is in that aim, that 63-year-old Hume wants to leave his legacy.
“I guess my legacy is to see this MCB project developed, but I have a number of drivers.
“One is to see Celsius move from an exploration company to a mining company. Another is to pass on the 40 years of experience that I've had, either good or bad to the young people that we're trying to develop.”
As Aristotle once said, “Good habits formed at youth make all the difference”.
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