Lafayette says unaffected by Philippines ruling
Published by MAC on 2004-01-30Lafayette says unaffected by Philippines ruling
Michael Quinn
Friday, January 30, 2004
Lafayette Mining does not believe the Supreme Court ruling that voided a Philippine government agreement allowing Indophil Resources and its partners to develop the Tampakan project will result in any delay in the development of its Rapu Rapu polymetallic project.
However, Lafayette did caution that its local legal counsel were reviewing the ruling.
The Supreme Court ruling related to a financial and technical agreement between the Philippines government and WMC covering the Tampakan project, with the FTAA established to encourage the investment in large-scale mining projects and allowing for 100% foreign ownership. According to Lafayette, only two such titles have ever been issued.
Lafayette's development of Rapu Rapu on the other hand uses a more conventional mineral processing sharing agreement.
The company has reported that it has all government and environmental approvals in place for development of the project, with first production due in the final quarter of 2004.
Rapu Rapu will have annual output of around 10,000t of copper, 14,000t of zinc in concentrates, 50,000oz of gold and 600,000oz of silver.
Shares in the company closed Friday down 2 cents at 11 cents.