Negotiations for the takeover of Samar Mining Co. (SMCI) earlier began through North Davao Mining Corp. (NDMC), another Elizalde interest chaired by Manuel Elizalde, Jr. NDMC took over the SMCI in 1978 for P30 million but retained the services of Elizalde, then the government’s president assistant for national minorities (PANAMIN), as chairman and president. During this time, NDMC had two mining operations: Amacan Copper Mine and Hijo Gold Projects.
By 1979, with the Elizalde influences, NDMC obtained a loan from the Philippine National Bank (PNB), a state depository. That year a supply agreement was signed by NDMC with international Finnish contractors, with D.M. Consunji Co., Inc. (DMCI) undertaking the civil works for the building of a copper plant capable of processing 30,000 MT of ore daily.
Around this period, aggressive policies affecting the company and the financial scams that were kept under wraps started to leak. Preempting a full-blown scandal, Elizalde relinquished his leadership of NDMC to Panfilo Domingo, then PNB chair, in 1980 and fled to Costa Rica, Central America. A state audit made during the first Aquino administration showed that NDMC obtained a total loan of P4.7 billion from PNB using collateral worth only P991 million. The obligation later bloated to P6 billion because of dollar exchange losses and non-payment.
In 1986, NDMC was seized by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) on suspicion as a behest loan beneficiary. The Assets Privatization Trust (APT), an agency created to handle state accounts, absorbed the financial obligation of the firm until it was closed in 1992 due to plunging metal prices. Adding urgency to the closure was the prevailing difficult economic conditions and internal management issues hounding the company. Its assets were placed under the receivership of the Privatization and Management Office (PMO) until it was transferred to the Philippine Mining Development Corp. (PMDC) on April 7, 2006, for disposal.
Other mining firms surfaced in Davao during this time when the demand for minerals, chiefly gold as legal tender, material for new technologies, and jewelry. Among the major players was Apex Mining Co., an erstwhile Apex Exploration and Mining Co., founded by Dr. Fernando Muñiz in 1970. Like its precursors, it was organized to explore copper and gold in the Masara area. The productivity of the new player, though, did not happen until 1978 when the global market became bullish. For some time, Masara was a major source of gold in the region until the entry of new blue-chip players.
In August 2005, as the prices of precious metal inflated, Crew Gold Corp., a foreign investor, and its Philippine partner, Mapula Creek Gold Corp., forged an interim share purchase agreement with Apex’s majority stockholders for the sale of 72.8% of the outstanding capital stock of Apex. This led to the termination of the accords Apex made separately with Viclode and Mintrecorp, and the cancellation of sub-contracts with small mining groups. After sealing the deal, the new management rehabilitated the Masara plant and upgraded its infrastructure.
This development provided the wick that sparked interest among new investors to explore the mineral resources of Davao. In 2000, Philsaga Mining Corp., a Davao-based company, was founded, with an interest in the exploration and production of gold.
In 2005, Mambusao Mining Corp. applied for a permit to explore gold and copper in a 15,660-hectare area in Marilog, Davao City. The project was endorsed by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) to the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), but the city government wanted Davao to declare a no-mining zone. When President Benigno S. Aquino III issued Exec. Order 79 on July 6, 2012, the mining application was deemed canceled.
