LISTED AGP Industrial Corp. has sealed a management agreement and option to acquire with an owner of a nickel mining claim in Isabela province, a stock exchange filing showed on Monday.
AGP Industrial signed the deal with Geogen Corp., a company partly owned by businessman and stockbroker Eusebio Tanco,which is in the process of exploring the mining site located in the municipality of Dinapigue. The claim covers a contract area of 2,391.8 hectares.
As part of the deal, AGP Industrial will provide management services to Geogen, including management control and property administration, of the mining area for five years starting October 15. AGP Industrial shall also conduct a technical due diligence study within six months from the signing of the agreement.
The agreement also grants AGP Industrial the “first and exclusive option” to certain actions such as acquiring 100 percent of Geogen and its mining rights and to negotiate over the entire or partial rights of participation interests in behalf of local or foreign partners.
“The option shall be for a period of one year upon signing the agreement, renewable for another period of one year upon mutual agreement of the parties,” part of the disclosure read.
Prior to this, AGP Industrial and locally listed NiHAO Mineral Resources International Inc. signed an agreement with commodities giant Glencore International AG to acquire, develop and operate mining assets in the Philippines, Indonesia as well other parts of the region.
The partners will form a joint-venture corporation in Hong Kong. Glencore will be the exclusive marketer of nickel ore and all materials produced by the joint venture while NiHAO and AGP Industrial are the local partners.
AGP Industrial chairman Antonio Gregorio III said in a previous interview that the company expects mining to account for 90 percent of its revenues in five years.
Shares of AGP Industrial closed higher by 2.94 percent to P29.75 each on Monday, although its shares still remain 44 percent down from its recent high.
AGP Industrial only resumed trading this year when it exited an almost decade-long dormancy after completing a quasi-reorganization program that wiped out most of its deficits.
