Mining magnate Felipe Yap’s Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. and its affiliate, Far Southeast Gold Resources Inc., have executed a 25-year pact with indigenous leaders in Benguet province, clearing a major hurdle toward extending mineral production rights at their flagship deposit.

The memorandum of agreement with the Indigenous Peoples of the Mankayan Ancestral Domain provides the host community’s formal Free and Prior Informed Consent, a statutory prerequisite to renew Mineral Production Sharing Agreement No. 001-90-CAR, according to corporate disclosures.

Under the contract terms, Lepanto and Far Southeast Gold will pay the local community a monthly royalty equal to one percent of gross output. The miners also agreed to a one-time payment of ₱110 million earmarked for social development projects, including the construction of a dedicated indigenous community center.

The agreement takes effect once the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples issues a formal Certification Precondition approving the deal. That certification will then be submitted to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, an agency under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, to complete the regulatory renewal.

The signatories structured the 25-year tenure to match the long development horizon of the Far Southeast project while maximizing economic returns for local stakeholders, citing a long-standing commercial relationship in the region.

The mineral sharing agreement was originally signed with the government on March 3, 1990, granting exclusive exploration and production rights for 25 years, with an option to extend for an equal term under identical conditions.

Lepanto and Far Southeast Gold filed for renewal on June 4, 2014, ahead of the contract’s 2015 expiration, but final execution remained pending as regulatory agencies vetted community compliance requirements.