Sagittarius seeks partner for Philippines’ largest copper-gold mine

Sagittarius Mines, developer of what could become the Philippines’ largest mine, is seeking a strategic partner to move the long-delayed Tampakan copper-gold project toward production.

Chief executive officer Roy Deveraturda told Bloomberg News on Wednesday the company is looking for a partner that can bring “modern technology” to the project, located in South Cotabato on the southern island of Mindanao.

The Tampakan mine, expected to produce about 375,000 tonnes of copper and 360,000 ounces of gold in concentrate annually over 17 years, had originally targeted commercial operations in late 2026. The company now expects production to begin in 2028.

Discovered more than 30 years ago, the project has faced repeated setbacks. Glencore (LON: GLEN) exited in 2015 amid regulatory uncertainty and a nationwide ban on open-pit mining, which was lifted in 2021.

Interest from Chinese companies, including state-owned Aluminum Corp. of China (Chinalco), has surfaced over the past year, though talks have been complicated by rising tensions between China and the Philippines over territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Chinalco, China’s largest aluminium producer, has been investing in mines from Guinea to Peru to secure raw materials for the world’s biggest commodities market. Other Chinese groups, such as Zijin Mining, have also been expanding globally in search of copper and other industrial metals.

The Philippines and Indonesia are the world’s top nickel suppliers to China, where the metal is used in stainless steel and electric vehicle batteries. While Indonesia has grown its nickel exports from $3 billion to $30 billion in two years by building local smelters, the Philippines continues to export mostly raw ore due to a lack of processing capacity.