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BOND CORP STILL CONSIDERING ATLAS MINING BAIL-OUT
Bond Corp Holdings Ltd <BONA.S> and Atlas
Consolidated Mining and Development Corp <ATLC.MN> are still
holding talks on a bail-out package for the troubled mining
firm, an Atlas statement said.
Atlas, the Philippines' biggest copper producer, said it
had been hit by depressed world copper prices. It reported a
net loss of 976.38 mln pesos in the year ending December 1986,
compared with a net loss of 1.53 billion in 1985.
The company said it had been able to cut its losses because
its scaled-down copper operations in the central island of Cebu
started in the second half of 1986.
Atlas said negotiations were continuing on the acquisition
by Bond of the company's existing bank loans and their
restructuring into a gold loan.
A memorandum of understanding signed by the two sides in
October last year said Bond would acquire Atlas' total loans of
275 mln dlrs, to be repaid by the mining company in gold.
Atlas said the two sides were also discussing equity
infusion into Atlas and the creation of a development fund for
further exploration and development of the company's gold
properties in the central province of Masbate.
Wilson Banks, general manager of <Bond Corp International
Ltd> in Hong Kong, told Reuters the Atlas statement on the
negotiations was "reasonably accurate."
Banks said Bond Corp was seriously considering several
investments in the Philippines but did not give details.
In its statement, Atlas said development of the pre-World
War Two underground mines in Masbate had been accelerated and
the ore tonnage had increased, extending the operation's life
at least until 1993.
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