MRC Allied Inc., a listed real estate developer, is continuing its diversification push into mining. This, as it announced on Friday it signed another mining agreement covering a parcel of land in Surigao del Sur.

MRC told the Philippine Stock Exchange that it entered into a mines and operations agreement for a 2,060-hectare gold and copper parcel of land in the municipality of Marihatag.

“The agreement for the exploration and development of the above mining tenement was executed for a consideration of about P140 million,” the company said in its disclosure. The said project will be injected into a wholly owned subsidiary which will be capitalized at P1 billion, MRC added, without elaborating.

The agreement marks MRC Allied’s second venture in the mining area. It already has a similar agreement covering a 3,718 hectare property in Marihatag. In July, MRC signed an agreement with Australian partners who will conduct a three-month due diligence on the said project before deciding on an investment. The company, through unit MRC Surigao Mines Inc., will take a controlling stake in the new company.

The new firm, which will have the Surigao property as its primary asset, will be listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, based on the proposal submitted by the Australian company.

“We are currently in the process of finalizing the terms of our agreement on the matter, rest assured however, that we will keep your office updated as soon as we have more conclusive information to disclose,” MRC said.

MRC Tampakan’s main asset is an 8,000-hectare parcel of land in Kiblawan, Davao del Sur and Columbio, Sultan Kudarat.

The property is adjacent to the 11,000-hectare Tampakan project, said to contain the fifth-largest copper-gold deposit in the world. 

MRC also has mining properties covering 9,720 hectares  in Davao Oriental, situated at the municipalities of Boston and Cateel.

MRC Allied, originally incorporated in 1990 as Makilala Rubber Corp., sow serves as a holding firm owned by a group led by businessman Benjamin Bitanga. It was involved with the real estate sector before it announced its foray into mining last year. Its shares declined 1.52 percent to P0.325 each on Friday. The company earlier said it was planning to raise $50 million from a private placement with Europe-based investors to fund exploration activities in Mindanao.