Celsius Resources Limited and its Philippine affiliate Makilala Mining Company Inc. (MMCI) announced that work on the updated Feasibility Study and Front-End Engineering & Design (FEED) for the Maalinao-Caigutan-Biyog (MCB) Copper-Gold Project remains on schedule, backed by funding from the Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC), the country’s sovereign wealth fund.
The Brisbane-based Ausenco is managing the Feasibility Study, which has reached the engineering halfway point. An interim study report is expected to be submitted to MIC by the end of August 2025.
The study is evaluating capital cost assumptions, construction designs, schedules, and applying updated commodity price forecasts for copper and gold, as well as foreign exchange rate projections.
Celsius said it is also in “active discussions with a number of parties” regarding project financing. MIC has already provided initial funding through the first omnibus loan and security agreement (First OLSA) and has “expressed interest in an equity investment in the MCB Project.”
A second drawdown of $2 million from the MIC bridge loan facility is scheduled this week, bringing total drawdowns to $4 million. The facility has $6 million in undrawn funds remaining as of Aug. 7.
The company said one interested party, Kiri Industries Limited of Ahmedabad, India, signed a memorandum of undertaking (MOU) during the India-Philippine Business Forum in Bangalore, attended by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“This high-level and non-binding MOU contains no specific or definitive commercial terms of investment at this stage and outlines the basis upon which the parties intend to negotiate in good faith to reach agreement for a potential investment by Kiri in MMCI,” Celsius said.
Discussions with other parties involve both debt and equity financing, as well as potential concentrate off-take and advance funding arrangements. Celsius stressed that “no binding agreement has been reached” and advised investors “not to make an investment decision on the basis of any potential transaction.”
The MCB Project, located in Barangay Balatoc, Municipality of Pasil, Kalinga Province, is the flagship asset in the Makilala portfolio. It hosts an updated JORC-compliant mineral resource of 338 million tonnes at 0.47 percent copper and 0.12 grams per tonne gold, containing an estimated 1.6 million tonnes of copper and 1.3 million ounces of gold.
A 2021 study projected a 25-year mine life for an underground operation producing copper-gold concentrate, with a post-tax net present value of $464 million and an internal rate of return of 31 percent at a copper price of $4 per pound and gold price of $1,695 per ounce. Initial capital expenditure was estimated at $253 million, with a payback period of about 2.7 years.
Celsius said it “remains firmly committed to commencing copper-gold concentrate production from the MCB Project before the end of 2027” while ensuring the project is “technically sound and financially robust” with strong environmental, social, and governance practices
