About Us
Overview
North Thunder Bay Mining Co. Ltd. is a resource company involved in the exploration and commercialization of natural mineral resources in the Philippines. In particular, the Company is developing Philippine-based resources for iron ore, copper, gold and silver.
Figure 1
The Mayantoc Prospect is primarily an iron ore play, although there appears to be gold and possibly copper in addition to the iron ore resources. Recent samples taken indicate iron ore concentrations generally above 60%, while gold assays ranged between 1 and 2.5 grams per metric ton. The most recent tests were conducted for iron ore bearing rock, and did not assay for copper. Previous exploration work conducted on the prospect was primarily interested in assessing the gold and copper potential of the area. Initial assays of rock chips and float chip samples found both metals at elevated levels as detailed further below.
The Lubo-Boneng mine, is located in the municipality of Kibungan, Province of Benguet in the Cordillera Administrative region. It has been a past producer of copper, gold and silver, during seven years of actual production in the early 1970s to early 1980s. Nearly 30 million tonnes of crude ore was mined from the old open pit from 1971 to 1982. The ore was transported by off-highway trucks to a concentrator situated less than a kilometer from the open pit. The plant produced 65,230 tonnes of copper, 3.70 tonnes of gold, and 1507 tonnes of silver contained in concentrates, which were shipped overseas to smelters in Japan.
The mine was shut down in February 1982 due to high financing charges attributable to an ill-timed 100% expansion from 15,000 to 30,000 tonnes per day and low prevailing copper prices, i.e. less than 80 US cents per pound.
With copper prices now well above these historical lows, and gold being at historic highs, it has now become economically attractive to begin working the mine again. This is an ideal situation, as there is still existing infrastructure components in place, and the mine has a proven history of large scale mining based on proven reserves of copper, gold and silver.