Celsius Resources Ltd (ASX:CLA, AIM:CLA) has broken through a long standing barrier to mining in the Philippines, securing a mining permit for the Maalinao-Caigutan-Biyog (MCB) Copper-Gold Project with support from the government.
A decade-long moratorium on new mining projects was lifted in 2021, but CLA is the first company to garner enough support from government and local communities to secure a comprehensive mining permit.
The emphasis is on mining initiatives that benefit local communities, with strong processes in place for issuing permits and ensuring good governance.
Cornering copper in the Philippines
Of the dozens of currently operating mines in the Philippines, only three are copper mines.
Celsius Resources' leadership team in the Philippines has successfully navigated each regulatory stage in a bid to become the fourth, achieving an exploration permit in 2020, an Environmental Compliance Certificate in 2023, the Declaration of Mining Project Feasibility in late 2023, and the approval of the MCB mining permit in March 2024.
The company’s subsidiary Makilala Mining Company Inc has a longstanding relationship with key stakeholders in the community where it operates, involving regular meetings with the Balatoc Council of Elders and the Barangay Council.
CLA believes the MCB project has substantial potential, representing a world-class resource developed by a world-class team.
The project holds a global mineral resource of 338 million tonnes at 0.47% copper and 0.12g/t gold, for about 1.6 million tonnes of contained copper and about 1.3 million ounces of gold.
Celsius is targeting a mine life of 25 years at a production rate of 2.28 million tonnes per year for about 49 million tonnes of material mined, with an option to expand capacity to 4.5 million tonnes per year after initial development is complete.
The company expects to invest US$253 million in the development of the project, with a post-tax net present value (NPV8) of US$464 million and a payback period of 2.67 years.