Mine operation is continuing.
In an ASX update yesterday, Oceana said it had filed an injunction against any unauthorised restraint of its operations and a hearing date was set down for next Wednesday.
Didipio is Oceana's top-performing mine in its portfolio of four, the others being Macraes and Waihi in New Zealand and Haile in South Carolina, not generally by volume of gold production but from sales of copper, a by-product, which hugely offsets the cost of gold production at the mine.
The injunction was sought in response to an order from the governor of the province Nueva Vizcaya, in the Cagayan Valley region in Luzon, which had directed local government units to "restrain any operations" at the Didipio mine, Oceana said.
"Subsequent to the governor's order, a local government unit prevented a large supply truck from accessing the mine site on Monday," Oceana said.
Oceana had "proactively" halted truck movements, including of copper concentrate, to prevent any escalation.
The move did not affect copper concentrate supply for shipment, and light vehicles, staff and food supplies continued to have mine access.
Oceana said that authority over the Didipio operation rested with the national Government and the Local Government Code of 1991 did not grant the provincial governor the authority to restrain any aspect of Didipio's operation.
Oceana has applied for a renewal of the financial or technical assistance agreement (FTAA) with the Philippine Government, and last month the regulatory authority, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, had confirmed that Didipio was permitted to continue operations, pending confirmation of the renewal application.
Oceana said yesterday that it directly employed more than 1500 workers, of whom 97% were Philippine nationals and 59% were from local communities, as well as providing "several thousand" indirect jobs and opportunities through partnerships with co-operatives and social development organisations.
