CHAIRMAN’S & PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
THE CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE
The year 2024 may be the year that gold delivered its best annual performance, since 2000. According to an article from the World Gold Council, gold outperformed all major asset classes and was a “strong portfolio diversifier”. This precious metal recorded 40 new all-time highs over the course of the year. It breached $2,900/oz for the first time in February 2024, finally yielding an annual average price of US$2,386/oz (+23%). In value terms, gold demand also reached stellar levels with the annual value totaling US$382bn – another record high.
Analysts attributed gold’s positive performance to three key factors, namely: (1) the strong central bank and investor demand that offset the decline in consumer demand; (2) heightened geopolitical risks brought about by increased conflicts, along with a busy electoral year in various countries around the world; and, (3) periods of opportunity costs as markets saw lower yields and a weakening of the US dollar.
Indeed, gold did well in 2024.
I am proud to say that Apex Mining also performed excellently, with both of our operating mines production outputs beating their 2023 records. The total production of Maco Mine was 899,002 tonnes with an average grade of 3.61 grams per tonne (gpt)versus 823,427 tonnes with an average grade of 4.11 grams per tonne (gpt) in 2023. The Sangilo Mine produced 148,021 tonnes with an average grade of 3.10 grams per tonne (gpt) in 2024, also better than 2023’s 138,361 tonnes with an average grade of 3.32 gpt. Your company sold a total of 104,107 oz of gold for 2024 resulting to a record revenue and net income of Php15.1B and Php4.3B respectively. This enabled us to declare the regular and a special cash dividend totaling Php .13888 per share which is an increase of 70.55% over last year’s.
While I am proud of our miners for their outstanding performance, I am even more proud of how our Maco Mine team manifested the true essence of a Pusong Minero as they faced the devastation caused by the landslide in February. They fully supported the Provincial Government of Davao de Oro’s disaster management response, bringing the spirit of malasakit in various forms to those in need —from search, rescue and retrieval assistance, to soup kitchens, medical missions and other psycho-social interventions.Indeed, being on limited operations for five months following the landslide did not deter our High Performance Team from catching up on delayed production and making up for lost time.
Thank you, dear shareholders for your consistent support of Apex Mining. My sincere appreciation to our board members, too, for their guidance and support as Apex Mining navigates the uncertainties and complexities of our rapidly changing business environment. And to our hardworking High Performance Team — our miners, support staff and service providers — I can only say a heartfelt, “thank you” for giving your 100% best. With God’s steady hand and the collective work of our High Performance team, Apex Mining is in for more stellar annual outcomes.
Reference: Gold’s 2024 performance best in 14 years by Taylor Burnette (World Gold Council/gold.org, 03 January 2025)
Jose Eduardo J. Alarilla
Chairman
THE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Dear Shareholders,
In 2024, we exceeded our tonnage budget and recorded strong financial numbers. Of course, the year was not without its fair share of challenges and difficulties. But I am proud that through the unwavering commitment and resilience of our High Performance Team, we overcame whatever curve ball was thrown at us.
The Masara Landslide
Our litmus test came on February 06, 2024 when a landslide happened in Masara. While the slide was outside our area of operations, we immediately deployed all needed resources to help the provincial and local governments manage the devastating aftermath.
We were on limited operations for five months as our heavy equipment, engineers, geologists and other technical experts conducted search, rescue and retrieval operations and labored to stabilize ground zero.
We reported to Congress twice in 2024 and, today, we continue to have meetings and consultations with our host LGUs and other community stakeholders. Moreover, we have sealed several partnerships to implement reliable, practical and efficient mitigating measures. Today, Masara is again brimming with happy smiles.
I can sincerely say that the landslide — while it brought anguish, loss and destruction — also brought to fore our innate malasakit. Indeed, the outpouring of support and assistance was simply overwhelming. Once again, we thank all who helped – other mining companies, allied industry players, other LGUs, the DENR, the MGB… there are just too many to mention individually.
To date, we have already completed a number of tenement-wide mitigation measures as our commitment to a safer work environment for our people and our host communities remains steadfast.
We also continue with our long-term housing assistance to our employees and recurring interventions like psycho-social counselling spearheaded by our partner-organizations.
OPERATION PERFORMANCE
The five months of limited operations did not stop our hardworking team from meeting our targets in 2024. The total mine production of Maco Mine was 920,925 tonnes, with an average grade of 4.10 grams per tonne. The Maco Mine also milled more than 899,000 tonnes with an average of 2,588 tonnes per day. Our gold recovery was at 85.71 percent while silver was at 74.72 percent.
Meanwhile, the Sangilo mine of our fully owned subsidiary, Itogon-Suyoc Resources, produced 169,776 tonnes with an average grade of 3.76 grams per tonne. It also milled over 148,000 tonnes at a 3.10 gold grade per tonne and 85.56 percent gold recovery.
In 2024, Apex Mining’s consolidated net income was 4.3 billion pesos. This is 28 percent higher than 2023’s. Gold sold was 104,107 ounces at a realized price of USD 2,436 per ounce. We sold 350,151 ounces of silver at a realized price of USD 28.63 per ounce.
Despite a slightly lower gold recovery of 85.71 percent in 2024, the level of metal prices remained in our favor. Metal prices averaging USD 2,436 per ounce for gold and USD 28.63 per ounce for silver established a new record for our annual revenue of P15.1 billion in 2024.
A favorable exchange rate variance also worked to our advantage.
Our cost of production in 2024 was higher at P7.6 billion. But our stronger financial fundamentals and operational efficiencies helped keep our balance sheet stable. While our materials used in mining and milling rose by 26 percent, we recorded nine percent more in tonnage processed.481 tonnes milled at 2.81 gold grade per tonne and 84.10% recovery).
COMPANY WINS
It is not always about money, as the saying goes. We also enjoyed psychic rewards.
The Provincial Kabalikat Award in the Industry Category presented to us by TESDA in August 2024 was certainly a joyful recognition. This honor validated our One team, one game mantra as we continuously strive to generate income and livelihood opportunities for the people of Davao de Oro. It was also a testament to our dedication to upskilling for the future. We also sustained our distinction of being Maco’s top business tax payer and top realty tax payer – our badge of honor reflecting the consistent fulfilment of our promise to always pay the right taxes. After all, our taxes also go towards projects that uplift the lives of our host communities.
TEAM HIGHLIGHTS
Aside from celebrating our wins as a company, we also paid tribute to the success of our employees and their families. In December 2024, we presented cash gifts to our employees who have successfully passed professional accreditation and licensure examinations and the children of our employees who graduated with honors.
We encourage our employees to always go for the gold — that is, strive to be better and always enhance their credentials. From among the 2024 awardees alone, we have nine passers of the licensure exam for teachers and two ASEAN engineers. It is our dream that our employees will always be highly coveted not just in the mining industry but in all sectors as well. Thus, this focus on personal academic and professional excellence through the PEAR program.
MOVING FORWARD
We are optimistic about the future. Many naysayers brood about climate change, disasters, and a world of downturns, slowdowns and stalled or misdirected progress. But we firmly believe that growth is what you make it. And so, we always zero in on sustainability as we grow Apex Mining. Responsible mining is deeply ingrained in our DNA as we steadily meet our growth targets. Asia Alliance, our subsidiary, is in the thick of an aggressive drilling campaign. ISRI’s APSA 103 has been greenlighted by our IP partners.
GRAVITATING TOWARDS THE FUTURE IN GRATITUDE
Apex Mining continues to move forward, with gratitude to God’s faithfulness. We move forward with gratitude to our valued shareholders and ever-supportive Board of Directors. As I have said during our report to Congress in March 2024, walang iwanan. We persevere with gratitude to our Host LGUs and communities, IPs and regulators —always extending a helping hand when needed the most, because we are here for the long haul.
Finally, we meet the future with gratitude to our hardworking men and women and our partners and contractors, showing malasakit during the difficult times and more importantly, proudly celebrating our collective wins. Thank you very much and together, let us go for the gold.