MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN
To all Shareholders:
Gold is a hedge against inflation because while global recession is showing its head, gold prices shine.
Here is a synopsis of 2022 vis a vis gold prices: the first half saw gold prices starting from $1810/oz then
fluctuating from a low of $1790 to a high of $2040 per oz before settling at $1815. By the second half of the year, the troubles in the US economy started the roller coaster ride for the precious metals sector of the mining industry, with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell raising interest rates from below two percent (2%) to over four percent (4%) in an attempt to address high inflation. The move of siphoning off money from the system had the whole world reacting by raising interest rates. With the higher yields, money flowed out to treasuries and affected gold and silver prices that softened in the second half of 2022. Gold prices dropped in the second half, going down to as low as $1631 and hovering below $1750 for most of the period. Eventually, with the inflation reversing near the end of the year, the hawkish trend in interest rate hikes slowed down. Gold recovered and ended the year above $1800/oz.
In 2023, it looks like gold prices will be elevated and Apex Mining is poised to capitalize on this opportunity.
Keeping the growth trajectory consistent — that is the story of Apex Mining in 2022, as the investments in the expansion of our mines continues to bear fruit. Our Maco Mine registered an 11% increase in gold production while our Sangilo Mine improved their income streams and became a self-sustaining operation. The year was record-breaking for us as we breached the 100k oz production level. These production levels would be the new norm and hopefully metal prices will be favorable.
We congratulate our production team for delivering numbers that have never been experienced by our Company. They pushed both mine and mill to increase production and efficiencies which have been felt strongly in 2022. Our mine operations will be able to withstand any future price shocks as our cost per ounce goes down with our increasing production, improving efficiencies and prudent cost controls.
We build on the trajectory of 2022’s growth by laying a solid groundwork for the future. In early December, we announced the acquisition of the operating interests in the former North Davao Mining Corporation (NDMC) from the Philippine Mining Development Corporation (PMDC). The mining tenement covers over 19,000 hectares surrounding our Maco Mine. This investment gives our Maco Mine valuable space to expand. Initially, a new Tailings Storage Facility will be constructed to ensure continuity in our 3,000 TPD Maco Mine expansion until 2032. As multiple vein structures that we had operated on continues into the NDMC tenement, these will be opened up and will add to the resource base of your Company. We expect these gold resources to be a valuable addition given their historical grades. The investment in NDMC offers more and I leave it to the President to discuss more details.
To our shareholders, thank you for your invaluable support to Apex Mining. And to our High Performance Team, your Board of Directors is very proud of you – thank you for making the vision and mission of our company come alive through your hard work, commitment and dedication.
With our strategic expansion and investments, the future of Apex Mining is looking bigger and better. More importantly, it is still far from peaking. Hopefully, all of us will enjoy the fruits of this growth opportunity. To God be the blessings and to man be the hope of maximizing these gifts.
Jose Eduardo J. Alarilla
Chairman
THE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Dear Shareholders,
In the normalizing year of 2022, the growth story that started in 2015 was clearly manifested as Apex Mining experienced a banner year (recall that in 2021, we successfully pushed the growth of our business beyond the business unusual).
OPERATIONS
In 2022, we felt the results of our expansion program on both Maco and Sangilo operations.
Apex Mining’s consolidated gross revenues reached PHP 10.3 billion, growing 39 % year on year. Our Maco mine continues to deliver the majority of the numbers with gross revenues of PHP9.5 billion while ISRI contributed PHP 800 million. The net income grew 408 % from PHP 657 million in 2021 to PHP3.339 billion in 2022.
Our two mills treated 815,910 tonnes for Maco and 131,481 tonnes for ISRI with an average mill head grade of 3.96 gpt. The resulting gold and silver production for Maco were 91,072 oz of gold and 377,729 oz of silver. Our production of both metals registered increases YoY — gold at 23% and silver at 5%.
Total revenues for 2022 reached PHP 10.310 billion. Our total cost of production was PHP5.432 billion. The resulting net income was PHP3.339 billion, a growth of 408 % year on year.
ON TO 2023 AND BEYOND WITH ASIAN ALLIANCE
Our future is looking rosier than ever with select expansion projects coming closer to fruition.
On 07 December 2022 your Company signed a Share Purchase Agreement for the whole of Asia Alliance Mining Resource Corp. (AAMRC). AAMRC signed a Joint Operating Agreement on 06 December 2022 with the Philippine Mineral Development Corp. (PMDC) for the former North Davao Mining Corp. (NDMC) mining tenement of over 19,000 hectares wholly surrounding the Maco tenement of Apex Mining in Davao de Oro.
This acquisition provides us the needed space for building another Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) and ensures the continuation of our expansion to 3000 TPD (and maintain that level of production till 2032). The added area also provides us with more room for the copper-gold porphyry deposits found within our existing mining tenement. The copper mill, another TSF and waste rock stockpile will be put up within the NDMC tenement areas should we proceed with development. This will officially bring us back to producing copper (which we used to do in the ‘70s).
Some of our gold veins extend to the NDMC tenement and these we plan to develop and contribute to the expanding mill. This provides us with cash flows just a couple of years from the buy-out of AAMRC and also expand our gold resource base.
As to the other mineral assets found or yet to be discovered within the NDMC tenement, we will be doing an exploration program to determine potential commercial deposits that may become future mines.
GOOD CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP
Our commitment to take care of the well-being of all our stakeholders remains constant. True to our promise of bringing growth and development to our host and neighboring communities, we spent PhP62.8 M under our Social Development and Management Program (SDMP) to fund a wide array of projects under three major areas: development of host and neighboring communities (DHNC), information, education and communication (IEC) campaigns, and development of mining technologies and geosciences (DMTG). We also extended help to rebuild two classrooms at the Baybay Elementary School in Siargao which was devastated by Typhoon Odette in late 2021. Indeed, the true spirit of malasakit knows no geographic boundaries.
In as much as we take care of our host and neighboring barangays, we also put the welfare of our own employees at the top of our list of priorities. We wrapped up 2022 with the inauguration of our employee accommodation facility in Barangay Nueva Visayas, Mawab, Davao de Oro and the blessing of our newly constructed training center at the level 4 of our Maco Mine. The accommodation facility we envision as the home away from of our employees while the training center will be a haven of new learning and upskilling for our High Performance team as well as community residents.
GRATITUDE
Our success in 2022 would not have been possible without the dedication, skill and hard work of the men and women of the Maco Mine Site. We are also grateful to our Board of Directors for their support and guidance. Finally, thank you, dear shareholders, for betting on Apex Mining. Rest assured we shall nurture your Compnay with prudence and diligence to make your investment grow.
Thank you.
Luis R. Sarmiento, ASEAN Eng.
President and CEO