OceanaGold

OceanaGold Corporation
Public
Traded as
Industry Gold Mines
Founded 1989
Headquarters Melbourne, Australia
Key people
 Mick Wilkes, CEO
Website www.oceanagold.com

OceanaGold Corporation (OceanaGold) is a Canadian-Australian firm producing gold and copper. It has operations in New Zealand and the Philippines. The company is also looking to open mines in El Salvador. "OGC" is its symbol on the Toronto, Australian and New Zealand stock exchanges.

History

The company was founded as Macraes Mining Company in 1989, after it had gained ownership of tenements from Golden Point Mining and BHP Gold Mines. It started to open-pit mine the Macraes Mine, Otago in 1990. In 2003 the company incorporated and became OceanaGold. A merger with Climax Mining took place in 2006. In 2008, it opened Frasers Underground mine, also in Otago.[1][2][3]

In 2013 OceanaGold bought Canadian mining company Pacific Rim Mining Corporation.[4] Production in New Zealand was reduced due to falling gold prices in early 2014.[5] In 2015, Newmont Mining Corporation's operations in Waihi were purchased.[6]

Operations

OceanaGold Corporation owns both producing and developing mines, with operations on the South Island of New Zealand and development and exploration activities in New Zealand and the Philippines.

New Zealand

OceanaGold operates Macraes Mine and Frasers Underground in Otago, Reefton mine, Reefton and Martha Mine, Waihi. Macraes Mine and Reefton mine are open-pit, Martha Mine has a discontinued open-pit. Martha Mine and Frasers Underground have operational underground mines.

Philippines

OceanaGold operates the open-pit Didipio Mine in Kasibu,[7] Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines. Located approximately 270 kilometres north of the Philippine capital of Manila on the island of Luzon. The Didipio Mine workforce consists of 1,800 employees and contractors of which over 98% are Filipino nationals including more than 50% from the local communities.. Production started from April 2013. The mine is producing 25 thousand tonnes of copper and 106256 ounces of gold annually.[7]

In 2007, there were disputes over how the company gained permission to demolish houses on the proposed mining site,[8] and whether a $680,000 was owned for a quarrying permit.[9] In early 2008, the Nueva Vizcaya provincial government severed temporary injunctions restricting further work.[10][8] OceanaGold argued that the injunctions were illegal. In June, the Philippine Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the company, issuing a 60 days temporary restraining order preventing the provincial government acting on its injunctions. Environmental groups led by Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment criticized the appeals court Order: "the entry of OceanaGold is the root cause of tension and violence among Ifugao communities in Dipidio."[10]

As of 2008 OceanaGold had raised $200 million to develop its Didipio Mine. The mine was expected to produce 120,000 ounces of gold and 15,000 tonnes of copper concentrate a year in the first 10 years.[9]

In 2011, Philippine Commission on Human Rights recommended the government to consider revoking the company's license due to its treatment of indigenous people.[11]

El Salvador

In late 2013, OceanaGold acquired Pacific Rim's interests in El Salvador. A USD 300 million case is currently before a tribunal under the auspices of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).[12] The case concerns a planned gold mine project, that was cancelled after El Salvador instituted a moratorium on new mining projects citing environmental concerns. The legal basis for the case is a domestic investment law of El Salvador after the tribunal declared it did not have jurisdiction under the CAFTA free trade agreement under which Pacific Rim's claim was originally brought.

Production

Year Total gold (oz) Total copper (tonne)
2014[13] 307,463 25,010

See also

References

  1. ↑ "History". OcenanaGold. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  2. ↑ "Macraes pegs back lost time on new underground gold mine". Mining Web. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  3. ↑ "Oceanagold And Climax Mining Merger". Scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  4. ↑ "Lawsuit against El Salvador mining ban highlights free trade pitfalls". The Guardian. May 27, 2015.
  5. ↑ "100 jobs cut at Otago gold mine". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  6. ↑ "Oceana Gold buys Waihi for $132.3m". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Didipio Gold and Copper Mine". digiscend.com. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  8. 1 2 "OCEANAGOLD WANTS MONEY FOR BEING ISSUED AN INJUNCTION". Center for World Indigenous Studies. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  9. 1 2 Raju Gopalakrishnan (June 11, 2008). "Philippine court rules in favour of Oceanagold". Reuters. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  10. 1 2 "Group denounces order allowing resumption of Nueva Vizcaya mining". GMA News (GMA Network). June 11, 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  11. ↑ "Philippine rights body wants OceanaGold deal revoked". Reuters. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  12. ↑ See Pac Rim Cayman LLC v. Republic of El Salvador, ICSID Case No. ARB/09/12 on italaw.com for related documents
  13. ↑ "Oceana Gold exceeds gold, copper forecasts". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 12 June 2015.

External links

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