Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company

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Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company is a Filipino primary gold producer. Lepanto has been a proud corporate resident of Mankayan, Benguet since 1936.

From 1948 to 1996, the Enargite operations produced 1.58 billion pounds of copper, 2.9 million oz of gold and 12.0 million oz of silver, recovered from 34.4 Mt of ore averaging 2.2% Cu and 3.5 g/t Au.

When the Victoria deposit was discovered in September 1995, the exploration and mine development work shifted from the Enargite deposit to the Victoria. In preparation for the milling of the gold ore, the copper flotation circuit was shut down on January 31, 1997. A new 2500-t/d carbon-in-pulp or CIP plant was commissioned on March 16, 1997.

During the first three years of gold operations, the Victoria was accessed through the same infrastructures utilized for the old Enargite mine, principally the Tubo Shaft. To provide easier access to the Victoria and improve ventilation, the Nayak Twin Decline project was started in July 1998. Two declines stretching 1 kilometer from the surface to the 1150L and an internal shaft were constructed in the Nayak Area. The project was completed in April 2000 at a cost of P675 million (M$15.0).

Lepanto continues to produce gold from its Victoria operations, located in Mankayan, Benguet. Lepanto resumed copper operations in 2008, which it suspended in the fourth quarter of that year due to the sharp decline in copper prices.

The Victoria Project has produced over 1,300,000 ounces gold from 1997 to 2013.

Lepanto has four wholly-owned subsidiaries, namely: Diamond Drilling Corporation of the Philippines, Diamant Manufacturing & Trading Corporation, Lepanto Investment and Development Corporation and Shipside, Incorporated.

Lepanto owns 60% of the outstanding capital of Far Southeast Gold Resources, Inc., another mining company with resources in Mankayan, Benguet. Incorporated in 1989, FSGRI is not yet in operation. On September 20, 2010, Lepanto entered into an Option and Shareholders Agreement with Gold Fields Switzerland Holding AG which grants Gold Fields an option to subscribe to new shares of stock of FGSRI representing a 20% interest in FSGRI. If the option is exercised by Gold Fields, Lepantos interest in FSGRI will be reduced from 60% to 40%. In the second half of 2012, Gold Fields publicly disclosed a preliminary Inferred Resource for the Far Southeast deposit of 891.7 million tonnes at 0.5% copper and 0.7grams per ton gold, equivalent to 19.8 million ounces of gold and 4.45 million tons of copper.