A unit of Apollo Global Capital Inc. on Monday said it has already spent some P900 million to jumpstart the commercial operations of the country’s first offshore magnetite iron mining in Cagayan by the end of the month.
The said project will be carried out by JDVC Resources Corp., Jun Herrrera, the company’s mining consultant said.
He said the newly built deep sea mining vessel has arrived in Cagayan and is currently taking shelter due to strong waves. It will start its mining operations as soon as the ocean swell subsides, possibly before end of the month.
“The first vessel has arrived and three more vessels are expected to arrive this year,” Herrera said.
The vessel is capable of commercial extraction, testing and sampling and production of magnetite iron.
The company said it has assured the government that there will be minimal impact on the sea environment as studies conducted by a Singapore-based survey company showed that there was no coral or aquamarine life within the mining area, which is 150 meters below sea level. (See related story “Groups oppose offshore magnetite mining project in Cagayan province.”)
“We can only go down to 150 meters with current technology. From the experience of countries like Indonesia, Japan and New Zealand, magnetite iron is known to be toxic to corals, fish and other aquamarine life,” Apollo Global said, adding that the study did not look at magnetite iron reserves in the area.
Herrera said the mining project, located in the municipalities of Aparri, Buguey and Gonzaga, in Cagayan province is proceeding as planned since it has already received funding from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).
DBP granted an $8-million credit line for the JDVC magnetite iron mining project, which it has proven to the bank that the project is environmentally safe, Herrera said.
He said the company still has to draw from the said credit line and the project is internally funded by its shareholders.
Apollo Global, formerly Yehey! Corp, was incorporated on June 10, 1998 at the height of the technology bubble that also burst in the US in the late 90s.
In 2014, Vantage Equities Inc. owned is 66.95 percent of Apollo Global.
On October 15, 2015, Yehey ceased to be a majority-owned subsidiary of Vantage when the company sold its shares to a group of individual shareholders.
In October 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the company’s name change as it winded down its digital marketing operations and the shift in primary purpose to that of a holding company.