Seven projects, mostly mass housing ventures, with combined investments of over P7 billion and jobs generation prospects of over 2,500 were granted tax and fiscal incentives by the Board of Investments (BoI).
Of the seven approved projects, six are engaged in mass housing developments with aggregate project cost of P7-billion account for the bulk of the BoI approvals. These projects are by SM Group (Light Residences Tower 2 and Green Residences), Camella Northpoint, Filinvest Land Inc., Community Naga and Suzuki Philippines Inc.
The seventh project was Philgold Metallic Ore Inc., a new producer of gold concentrate with a yearly capacity of 360,000 metric tons (MT) or the equivalent to 2,343 ounces (oz.) of gold with an investment of P158.8 million.
The project is located in the province of Surigao del Sur, which is considered as one of the country’s thirty (30) poorest provinces.
To date, the 60 percent Filipino and 40 percent British owned firm has already explored 77 percent of the total contract areas of 449.49 hectares.
With total resource estimate of 22,148,307 MT, mine life is expected to reach 62 years, far beyond the minimum 10 year requirement of the IPP specific guidelines, but is even estimated to last beyond as the remaining 23 percent of the areas is slated to be explored.
“The people of Surigao, particularly the surrounding communities of the area stand to benefit for the long-term given the duration of the project,” Trade Secretary and BoI Chair Gregory L. Domingo said.
This firm intends to employ 114 people and will start commercial operations in December 2011. It will mine gold ore with a cut-off grade of 0.265 to 0.313 grams gold per ton. Its final product would be gold with 70-80 percent concentrate. (BCM)
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