TVI Pacific was the first foreign resource company to put a mine into production in the Philippines after the passage of the Philippines Mining Act of 1995. From 2004 to 2014, TVI successfully operated the Canatuan gold/silver and copper/zinc mine located in the Province of Zamboanga del Norte, on the Philippine island of Mindanao.
Between 2004 and 2008, the Canatuan gold-silver mine produced a total of 105,200 ounces of gold and 1.8 million ounces of silver doré, generating gross revenues of US$86 million and net cash flows of US$29 million. From 2009 to 2014, the Canatuan copper-zinc mine further produced a total of 199,778 dry metric tonnes of copper concentrate and 30,558 dry metric tonnes of zinc concentrate for gross revenues of US$393 million and net cash flows of US$151 million.
While operating Canatuan, TVI (through its then 100%-owned Philippine affiliate, TVI Resource Development Phils.Inc. (“TVIRD”), in which it continues to hold a 30.66% interest since December 2013)) was recognized year after year at the annual Philippine Mine Safety and Environmental Conference for operating at the highest industry standards for safety and environmental protection and received multiple prestigious awards from the annual Philippine Presidential Mineral Industry Environmental Award (“PMIEA”) ceremony. This established both TVI and TVIRD as a preeminent mining company committed to the highest levels of safety, environmental stewardship and sustainable development, making TVI a 'partner of choice' and a model operator in the eyes of the Canatuan communities, the Philippine government and various regulators – a reputation that has proudly stayed with TVI and TVIRD through to today.
As at September 30, 2023, Canatuan rehabilitation activities, as performed under the supervision of the Multi-Partite Monitoring Team (“MMT”) that includes representatives of the local community, the municipal and provincial government, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (“DENR”) (as representatives of the national government) are near complete. The remaining rehabilitation areas include the mill and processing area, the gossan tailings storage facility impoundment and the surface mining area, all of which require a further 2 to 3 years of care and maintenance of vegetation planted.
The plant from the former Canatuan processing plant has also been decommissioned, fully rehabilitated and installed at the Balabag Gold-Silver Mine, where twenty-four-hour operation of the plant was introduced in late August 2021 and commercial production was achieved effective November 1, 2021. The average processing rate at the Balabag gold processing plant in the seven months ended July 31, 2023 was 2,304 tonnes per day (“tpd”) while plant availability was 88%. Optimization works at the Balabag gold processing plant are ongoing.
Canatuan Tailings Storage Facility – November 2012
Canatuan Tailings Storage Facility – June 2021
View of Canatuan sulphide mine benches during time of Canatuan operations in 2013.
Rehabilitation as of October 2021.
Rehabilitation as of April 2023.
A total of 11,425 seedlings have been planted through to June 2023 and include Acacia auriculiformis,
Acacia mangium, giant bamboo, rubber, and coffee. In addition, Benguet pine, assorted hardwood, tiger grass and Ipil-ipil (Leucaena leucocephala, a small fast-growing mimosoid tree).
Aside from wild ducks, hawks, eagles, squirrels, bats and a variety of snakes, including the Philippine Cobra (Naja Philippinensis) have returned to the area among the over 411,000 trees TVIRD has planted within the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (“MPSA”) area.