RAPU RAPU ISLAND, Philippines, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The Philippines will decide on Thursday whether to allow Australia's Lafayette Mining Ltd. to reopen its copper and zinc mine here, Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes said on Monday. Reyes was widely expected to announce the reopening of the mine more than a year after it was shut due to cyanide spills. But he said a team of mining and pollution experts would visit Rapu Rapu on Tuesday and then report to the environment department's Pollution Adjudication Board. "The objective is to validate the lifting of the cease and desist order," Reyes said by telephone. Reyes had been scheduled to visit Rapu Rapu but his helicopter could not land there because of bad weather. He spoke to reporters assembled on Rapu Rapu from nearby Legazpi City. The Rapu Rapu polymetallic project was the first foreign-owned mine to open in the Philippines after the Supreme Court upheld in December 2004 the legality of a law granting full foreign ownership of local mining projects from 40 percent. But the spills in Rapu Rapu, 350 km (222 miles) southeast of Manila, in October 2005 raised the ire of powerful Philippine Catholic bishops and environment groups. The mine started gold production in July 2005. The accident occurred just as the government was rolling out the red carpet to lure foreign investors to pour money and help revive its once lucrative mining industry. The Philippine government has said the country has $1 trillion worth of unexplored copper, gold, nickel and zinc. Rapu Rapu is one of 24 priority projects that the government said needed total investments of at least $6.5 billion to revive old mines and bring into production newly identified lodes. Before the suspension, the mine was forecast to generate revenues of $350 million a year from production of 10,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate, 14,000 tonnes of zinc, 50,000 ounces of gold and 600,000 ounces of silver. LG International Corp and state-run Korea Resources Corp. (KORES) together hold 26 percent stake in the Rapu Rapu mine while Australia's Lafayette owns the rest. Last week, Mines and Geosciences Bureau director Horacio Ramos had said Lafayette may be allowed to restart Rapu Rapu after finishing all the repairs caused by typhoon Durian in late November. Typhoon Durian in late November toppled electrical poles and damaged housing facilities for the staff at the mine. But there was no critical damage to the base metals plant, a Lafayette spokesman has said. The government allowed Lafayette to test its base metals facility starting July 10 till Dec. 8 last year. Last month, the government allowed Lafayette to ship a total of 2,670 tonnes of zinc and copper concentrate which it produced during the test run of the Rapu Rapu project last year. Rapu Rapu's incidental production was sold by LG International to China, Lafayette spokesman Bayani Agabin has said. Lafayette has an agreement with LG International to sell its production from Rapu Rapu. Agabin has said he expected the next concentrate shipment from Rapu Rapu by April if the government allowed his firm to restart this month. ((Reporting by Dolly Aglay, editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Ben Tan; Reuters Messaging: [email protected]; +632 841-8936)) Keywords: LAFAYETTE/RAPURAPU
Monday 05 February 2007 17:06:07 AEST
LAF Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held