TWO RUSSIAN COMPANIES are planning to put up mineral processing plants in the Surigao provinces, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) said.
MGB officer-in-charge Wilfredo G. Moncano told reporters on Tuesday that the bureau expects final signing with one of the companies signed by January. He did not identify the companies nor specify where in the Surigao region the plants will be built.
“Actually, the first signing was with one [Russian] mining company — I do not want to mention the name — in October and [another] to sign early January,” he said.
Mr. Moncano said a mineral processing facility typically costs about $200 million, but the two Russian investments could be worth $600 million.
Mr. Moncano also said there have been other expressions of interest from Australian companies.
“We want [the investments to go into mineral] processing [because] that’s what the President has said,” he added.
Mr. Moncano said he expects the mining industry to bounce back in 2018, noting that the first half of the year prior to the appointment of the current Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy A. Cimatu was an “unstable” period for the industry.
“I would expect that there would be increase in production, I would also expect that there would be major issues on mining that would be solved, I am very confident [it can be achieved].” — Anna Gabriela A. Mogato
