Philex Mining Corp. said Thursday net income grew 3 percent in the first quarter to P432 million from a year ago, on higher metal prices and better foreign exchange rate.
Philex said in a disclosure to the stock exchange core net income also increased 18 percent in January to March to P458 million from P389 million a year earlier, as consolidated revenues improved to P2.542 billion from P2.39 billion.
Philex said the copper price averaged $2.77 per pound in the first quarter, up from $ 2.25 per pound a year ago, while the average realized gold price rose to $1,264 per ounce from $1,239 an ounce.
The mining company said the realized foreign exchange rate of 50.32 a dollar in the first quarter this year, compared to 46.90 a dollar in the same period last year, also made a positive contribution to the bottomline.
Philex said revenues from copper went up to P1.094 billion from P946 million, while revenues from gold was flat at P1.426 billion. Revenues from silver also rose to P21.9 million from P16.8 million as average realized price went up to $18 an ounce from $15.
The company’s Padcal mine milled 1.998 million metric tons in the first quarter, down from 2.325 million tons in 2016 because of less operating days and equipment availability issues this year.
Philex said it initiated measures to improve metal recovery by enhancing the flotation process to offset the lower milling tonnage.
The metal recovery rate for copper increased to 84 percent as grades improved to 0.209 percent from 0.204 percent. The recovery rate for gold also rose to 83 percent while grades improved to 0.421 grams per tonne from 0.405 g/t.
“Over and above the healthy financial performance in the first quarter, our commitment to advocate responsible mining, following stringent local and international standards, remains paramount. It is for this reason that we continue to roll out the activities we committed under the many agreements we have signed with the government and pursue the initiatives we vowed to provide our host and neighboring communities, in accordance with law, oftentimes exceeding what is required from us,” said Philex Mining president and CEO Eulalio Austin Jr.
“We also expect to do the same at our Silangan Project as we look forward to completing the Definitive Feasibility Study within the year,” said Austin.