Philex looks for gold at home, oil abroad ~ SURIGAO Today

Philex looks for gold at home, oil abroad

Philex Mining Corp. is looking for oil opportunities abroad while focusing on mining here at home, according to its chief executive officer Walter Brown.

"We will remain to be a mining company with a small exposure in the energy field. We are focusing on local mining projects particularly Boyongan and Bayugo," he said at the company's annual stockholders' meeting on Wednesday.

Philex is spending P2.097 billion in 2009, up from last year's P1.469 billion, to operate its Padcal mine in Benguet and continue copper-gold exploration in Surigao del Norte, where its Boyongan and Bayugo properties are located.

In a related development, an oil and gas exploration company that is partly owned by Philex has completed initial drilling in Vietnam.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Pitkin Petroleum Plc said it has succesfully completed the drill stem testing of the Ca Rong Do (Red Emperor) discovery well on Block 07/03 in offshore Vietnam which yielded oil at a combined rate of 3,265 barrels of oil per day plus 8.1 million standard cubic feet of gas per day through a 48/64" choke.

For 2008, Philex reported a consolidated net income of P2.8 billion or P0.83 per share, its third-highest in 53 years of operation. (abs-cbnnews.com)

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