Mining firm eyes cross listing on PSE

ST. AUGUSTINE Gold and Copper Ltd. (SAGCL), which is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange, is looking at a cross listing on the Philippine Stock Exchange as it consolidates its partnership with local partners on the King-king project in Compostela Valley.

Clyde Gillespie, SAGCL’s country manager in the Philippines, yesterday said the firm was pursuing this tack as it signed an agreement with Nationwide Development Corp. (Nadecor) to restructure their interests in King-king.

Based on the agreement, SAGCL will hold full interest in the joint venture milling company—from the previously agreed 60 percent—and assume full responsibility of organizing the financing for the project.

The structure of the joint venture mining company would remain, with Nadecor owning 60 percent and SAGCL owning 40 percent.

To realize this arrangement, the milling company will have an ore sales agreement with the firm.

Gillespie said the restructuring would also result in Nadecor shareholders owning 39.96 percent of SAGCL, for which the latter is making available some 325 million shares at $0.10 each.

He added that the Villar-led Queensberry Mining and Development Corp., which owns 18 percent of SAGCL, supports the consolidation.

In a statement, SAGCL chief executive Andrew J. Russell said the new structure of the joint venture “increases the attractiveness of the project to potential strategic partners supportive of bringing Kingking into production.”

Ruy Moreno, executive vice president of the rival Ricafort-led group in Nadecor, said in an interview he could not understand what the said group was talking about.