OceanaGold

History

The company was founded as Macraes Mining Company in 1989, after it had gained ownership of tenements from Golden Point Mining and BHP Gold Mines. It started to open-pit mine the Macraes Mine, Otago in 1990. In 2003 the company incorporated and became OceanaGold. A merger with Climax Mining took place in 2006. In 2008, it opened Frasers Underground mine, also in Otago.

In 2013 OceanaGold bought Canadian mining company Pacific Rim Mining Corporation. Production in New Zealand was reduced due to falling gold prices in early 2014. In 2015, Newmont Mining Corporation's operations in Waihi were purchased.

Operations

OceanaGold Corporation owns both producing and developing mines, with operations on the South Island of New Zealand and development and exploration activities in New Zealand and the Philippines.

New Zealand

OceanaGold operates Macraes Mine and Frasers Underground in Otago, Reefton mine, Reefton and Martha Mine, Waihi. Macraes Mine and Reefton mine are open-pit, Martha Mine has a discontinued open-pit. Martha Mine and Frasers Underground have operational underground mines.

Philippines

OceanaGold operates the open-pit Didipio Mine in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines. Located approximately 270 kilometres north of the Philippine capital of Manila on the island of Luzon. The Didipio Mine workforce consists of 1,800 employees and contractors of which over 98% are Filipino nationals including more than 50% from the local communities.. Production started from April 2013. The mine is producing 25 thousand tonnes of copper and 106256 ounces of gold annually.

In 2007, there were disputes over how the company gained permission to demolish houses on the proposed mining site, and whether a $680,000 was owned for a quarrying permit. In early 2008, the Nueva Vizcaya provincial government severed temporary injunctions restricting further work. OceanaGold argued that the injunctions were illegal. In June, the Philippine Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the company, issuing a 60 days temporary restraining order preventing the provincial government acting on its injunctions. Environmental groups led by Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment criticized the appeals court Order: "the entry of OceanaGold is the root cause of tension and violence among Ifugao communities in Dipidio."

As of 2008 OceanaGold had raised $200 million to develop its Didipio Mine. The mine was expected to produce 120,000 ounces of gold and 15,000 tonnes of copper concentrate a year in the first 10 years.

In 2011, Philippine Commission on Human Rights recommended the government to consider revoking the company's license due to its treatment of indigenous people.

El Salvador

In late 2013, OceanaGold acquired Pacific Rim's interests in El Salvador. A USD 300 million case is currently before a tribunal under the auspices of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The case concerns a planned gold mine project, that was cancelled after El Salvador instituted a moratorium on new mining projects citing environmental concerns. The legal basis for the case is a domestic investment law of El Salvador after the tribunal declared it did not have jurisdiction under the CAFTA free trade agreement under which Pacific Rim's claim was originally brought.

United States

In December 2016 OceanaGold announced it had commenced milling operations at the Haile gold mine in South Carolina. The Company expects to produce between 150,000 and 170,000 ounces of gold in 2017 at Haile.

In January 2017 OceanaGold announced the first gold pour at its Haile gold mine in South Carolina, producing a doré bar totaling 445 ounces of gold.

Production

In 2016 OceanaGold generated revenue of $628.6 million and reported a net profit of $136.5 million. Full year production totaled 416,741 ounces of gold and 21,123 tonnes of copper.