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OceanaGold said transportation of copper-gold concentrate from its Didipio Mine in Luzon, the Philippines, has been temporarily suspended after authorities detained its trucks over a tax dispute.
The company has delivered about 2,500 tonnes of concentrate to port since production began at the mine but more 2,500 tonnes has piled up at the mine site pending resolution of the dispute.
OceanaGold “is currently in discussions with various government departments over interpretations of tax exemptions pertaining to OceanaGold’s Financial and Technical Assistance
Agreement (FTAA),” it said in a statement.
“Due to these clarifications on tax exemptions being sought, some of the trucks used for transporting concentrate are being held by local government agencies and thus transportation of copper-gold concentrate has been temporarily suspended,” it said.
Didipio is the first project to be built and commence operations in the Philippines under the FTAA structure.
The shares dipped 2.1 percent to $2.76 on the NZX today.