By Louise Maureen Simeon (The
Philippine Star) | Updated November 16, 2016 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines – Listed Lepanto
Consolidated Mining Co. trimmed its net loss to P500 million in the first nine
months of the year on the back of improved revenues.
Revenues from January to September
went up 21 percent to P1.1 billion. Third quarter revenues improved 12 percent
to P427 million.
Metal sales grew nearly 30 percent
to P1.05 billion due to higher gold production and the depreciation of the peso
versus the US dollar.
Gold production rose to 17,213
ounces from 15,007 ounces as a result of higher milled ore. Silver
production slightly decreased to 29,034 ounces from 35,304 ounces with the
reduction in silver grade.
On the other hand, cost and
expenses increased 19 percent to P1.5 billion.
Mining cost surged by almost 80
percent to P493 million while milling cost decreased to P146 million due to the
lower prices and lesser usage of some milling materials.
Other cost component that increased
included labor, major consumables, repairs, maintenance and service.
Lepanto is among the 20 mining firms
that have been recommended for suspension following the audit of the Department
of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on the industry.
The company, which operates in
Benguet, is primarily engaged in the exploration and mining of gold, silver,
copper, lead, zinc and all kinds of ores, metals, minerals, oil, gas, coal and
their related by-products.
It sells its production to Hongkong,
Canada, Peru, and China, among others.
No comments:
Post a Comment