TVI buoyed by progress in Philippines

An improved outlook for metals prices has Calgary-based TVI Pacific (TVI-T) expecting to benefit from several advanced polymetallic projects in the Philippines.

The company holds a 2.5% net smelter return royalty on the Rapu Rapu project in Albay province, which is being developed by Australian-listed Lafayette Mining.

Lafayette is also engaged in a program aimed at generating additional reserves close to the Ungay pit, where mine construction is under way.

The Aussie company has the support of LG International and KORES, the Korean government’s resource investment arm, which jointly hold a 26% interest in the project.

Based on recent feasibility studies, annual production at Rapu Rapu is projected to be 10,000 tonnes copper in concentrates, 14,000 tonnes zinc in concentrates, 50,000 oz. gold, and 600,000 oz. silver.

All government and environmental approvals are in hand, and construction is in progress, with startup projected for the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, Lafayette’s trenching program has returned encouraging gold assays from the Hixbar region, 2 km from the proposed processing plant.

Selected results from several trenches include: 15 metres grading 4.5 grams gold per tonne; 4 metres of 6.8 grams; 2 metres of 11.3 grams, and 3 metres of 6.3 grams.

Hixbar already hosts a resource of 350,000 tonnes grading 2.07 grams gold. The new results extend the prospective gold oxide zone farther to the south.

TVI Pacific, meanwhile, is advancing its wholly owned Canatuan copper-gold project. Situated on the island of Mindanao, the deposit consists of a copper-rich massive sulphide body and a gold- and silver-bearing gossan (oxide) deposit.

The company says two previous feasibility studies for Canatuan showed “robust” economics. Last fall, an independent report (compliant with National Instrument 43-101) was prepared to update previous resource estimates. This newly completed study states that Canatuan’s gossan resources (measured and indicated) stand at 920,000 tonnes grading 3.74 grams gold and 136.9 grams silver. Sulphide resources (in the same categories) total 645,000 tonnes of 2.64% copper, 1.79% zinc, 1.08 grams gold and 59.1 grams silver.

Infill drilling is attempting to convert additional inferred resources to the measured or indicated categories, and to collect sulphide material for additional metallurgical testing. Updated feasibility studies are also being carried out to integrate past work and TVI’s revised mining plans. The first phase of these studies will examine the mining of the gossan oxide resource. The second phase will examine the sulphide resource, once results from the infill-drill program are in hand.

In the mid-1990s, TVI operated a small oxide plant at Canatuan as part of its efforts to bring the project to production. But weak metal prices and a tough financing climate forced the company to postpone those plans until early 2003, when it rehabilitated and upgraded the plant to treat tailings from local, small-scale mining.

Early this year, TVI undertook to expand the capacity of the plant and replace tailings feedstock with oxide ore mined on a commercial scale.

The goal is to expand initial capacity to 250 tonnes per day from 125 tonnes, and then later to as much as 500 tonnes.

As part of this effort, the feasibility study has already identified a starter pit that would supply gossan ore to the plant. It contains an estimated 81,000 tonnes grading 5.2 grams gold and 90 grams silver.