Chamber of Mines of the Philippines president Benjamin Philip G Romualdez says some US$12 billion in mining investments are currently on hold due to the ‘inconsistencies and uncertainties’ in the country’s mining policy. 
Red Mountain Mining is starting a scoping study to evaluate capital payback potential from high-grade, near-surface deposits at its Batangas project. The study is expected to be completed by December 2013.
Red Mountain Mining has announced the first high-grade gold, near-surface, diamond drilling intersection from its new drilling program testing the Japanese Tunnel epithermal vein structure at Lobo project. The hole intersected 8.7 metres @ 4.34 grams/tonne gold from 2.9 metres downhole depth including 3.7 metres @ 8.62 grams/tonne and 0.55 metres @ 16.8 grams/tonne.
New technology developed by Tenova Pyromet, part of Tenova Mining & Minerals, for the high temperature cleaning of furnace off gas generated in a closed ferroalloy smelting process, will enable smelter operators to use the cleaned gas more easily in a number of co-generation plant options.