The consolidated gross revenues of Apex Mining Co., Inc. and its subsidiaries in the first quarter of 2023 reached P2.6 billion or 15.62 percent higher than the P2.2 billion in the same period in 2022, according to a company statement. However, its consolidated net income in the same period was P548.8 million, lower than the P645.5 million registered Q1 2022 with parent company netting an income of P520.8 million, also lower than P629.5 million in the same period last year due to force major events. The Apex’s statement noted that for the first quarter of 2023, its Maco mining operations milled a total of 182,639 tons lower by six percent as compared to first quarter 2022.  It could be recalled that a series of force majeure events occurred within the period, forcing intermittent work stoppages, mostly for risk assessments and safety checks. According to the company, prolonged series of earthquakes and aftershocks affected Maco mine’s operation’s power supply; a series of safety inspections was done following this period of earthquake swarms.  Heavy and long periods of rainfall during the period also caused landslides to occur within the Davao de Oro province.  The landslides affected the old tailings dam (utilized between 1976 to 1989 under a different management) posing access problems for workers. All these disruptions totaled 5.74 workdays. Despite these disruptions, gold recovery was at 88.77 percent, higher compared to the same period in 2022 which was at 87.26 percent recovery. Silver recovery was lower, though, at 76.23 percent against last year’s 78.92 percent recovery rate. The higher average realized gold price of $1,929/oz during the year (versus $1,872/oz in 2022) pushed the revenues up by 15.62% in the first quarter of 2023. Ore gold grades averaged higher at 4.56 grams per ton compared to the first quarter of 2022 at 3.76 grams of gold per ton. The  depreciation of the Philippine peso against the US dollar as of March 31, 2023 also contributed to the increase in revenue. Meanwhile, Apex Mining’s fully owned subsidiary, Itogon-Suyoc Resources, Inc. (ISRI) milled a total of 34,221 tons in the first quarter of 2023 compared to 25,887 tons in the same period in 2022. Based on the Mine Reserves and Resource Certifications of 2021, Apex Mining’s Maco Mine has enough reserves and resources to continue at the targeted production rate of 3,000 tons per day until 2032. According to Apex Mining’s President and CEO, Luis R. Sarmiento, ASEAN Eng, “The exploration program for MPSA 225 continues to this day and once the updated third-party competent report on the results of exploration is completed, we will disclose relevant updates.” “The acquisition of the Asia-Alliance Mining Resources Corp. gives us future gold resources as the extensions of existing mining veins spill over to the adjacent tenement. These give our exploration team new ground to drill and validate,” said Sarmiento. At its Annual Stockholder’s Meeting in late April, Apex Mining announced a cash dividend of 0.053621 per share. The record date is May 15, 2023 while payment date is on June 5, 2023.