OceanaGold Philippines to Boost Gold and Copper Production in Latter Half of 2024
MAKATI CITY — OceanaGold Philippines Inc., a subsidiary of the global mining firm OceanaGold Corporation, is set to increase its gold and copper production in the second half of 2024. This projection comes after a period of decreased output earlier in the year, attributed to operational challenges.
According to Philippines News Agency, Chief Operating Officer for Asia-Pacific at OceanaGold Corporation, the company anticipates a sequential improvement in production through the remaining quarters of the year. “So we see quarter three will be stronger than quarter two and quarter four will be stronger than quarter three,” Sharpe explained during a briefing. This comes after the Didipio gold-copper mine, operated by OceanaGold in Nueva Vizcaya, reported production of 49.2 thousand ounces of gold and 5.8 thousand tons of copper in the first half of 2024, which was a decline from the previous year’s figures due to unexpected downtime at their processing plant.
The production setbacks were linked to unplanned maintenance issues that have since been resolved, leading to restored milling operations. “What that meant was that we were not able to mill as much ore as we originally planned. They were one-off events and they’ve effectively been addressed,” Sharpe stated. With these issues behind them, the firm now expects gold production to reach around 70,000 ounces and copper output to rise to 12,000 tons in the latter half of the year.
Additionally, OceanaGold is implementing changes in its underground mining operations following a geotechnical review. “The review identified that there was a safer way to mine… And we’ve enacted that recommendation around applying a different mine design and sequence to underground ore,” Sharpe noted. This new approach is anticipated to yield a slightly lower ore grade in the short term but higher grades in the subsequent years.
A pre-feasibility study for underground optimization is currently underway, aiming to enhance the yield of higher-grade ore from the underground operations. Sharpe detailed plans to adjust the mix of ore used in milling operations to favor higher-grade underground sources over surface stockpiles, a move facilitated by new equipment purchases already underway.
The full results of the optimization study are expected to be published in the first quarter of 2025, which could further inform production strategies and operational adjustments.