Philippines' US$200 Billion Tampakan Copper Mine Moves Closer to Reality After Decades of Delay

Dominion Holdings (PSE:DHI), backed by the billionaire Sy and Consunji families, is executing a three-way merger to absorb control of the Tampakan copper-gold project, positioning itself to become the largest listed mining company in the Philippines.

To facilitate the transaction and future expansion, Dominion will increase its authorized capital stock to 30 billion pesos (US$486.7 million) from 3.42 billion pesos. The specific merger exchange ratio will be finalized following an independent valuation of the three entities, with a shareholder vote scheduled for September 14, 2026.

Through the merger, Dominion secures the holding companies that control Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI), the operator of the Tampakan project.

The Tampakan deposit is widely considered Southeast Asia’s largest undeveloped copper-gold resource. Its development has stalled for three decades amid regulatory gridlock and local pushback.

Mining giant Glencore (LSE:GLEN,OTCPL:GLCNF) notably abandoned the project in 2015 following a provincial ban on open-pit mining, which the South Cotabato government ultimately lifted in 2022.

The project is estimated to produce an average of 375,000 tons of copper and 360,000 ounces of gold in concentrate annually over a 17-year operational lifespan. Operations are now targeted for 2028, pushed back from an earlier 2026 timeline.

Dominion President Frederic DyBuncio stated that road network construction is currently underway. The Consunji family is also expected to provide operational expertise to extract the asset.

“This deal could potentially transform DHI into the largest mining company in the Philippines,” Chinabank Capital managing director Juan Paolo Colet told the Manila Bulletin. “By some estimates, the Tampakan copper and gold reserves have a gross value of around US$150 billion to US$200 billion, so the successful development of this project could generate significant returns to DHI’s shareholders, strengthen the country’s resource sector, and contribute meaningfully to national economic growth.”

Through the Tampakan integration, Dominion continues to pursue its mining consolidation strategy. The company recently acquired a 20.43 percent stake in Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development (PSE:AT) Additionally, SM Investments plans to transfer its roughly 34 percent holding in Atlas to Dominion by 2027, centralizing the Sy family's major copper assets under a single listed platform.

Despite the progress, the project continues to face intense local resistance.

In October 2023, Mindanao bishops petitioned Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to cancel the project.

They argued that the 2016 contract extension granted by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau was unconstitutional because Financial or Technical Assistance Agreements of this scale require the President's signature.

Bishop Cerilou Casicas of the Diocese of Marbel emphasized the area's role as the "food basket of Mindanao" and warned that open-pit operations pose severe environmental risks.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.