OceanaGold (Philippines) Inc. (OGP) continued its growth momentum in the first half, as earnings tripled to nearly $70 million driven by higher gold and copper prices.

Based on its financial report, OGP’s net income jumped by 206 percent to $67.4 million from January to June, up from $22.0 million in the same period last year.

OGP’s revenues expanded by over half to $285.3 million compared to the $175.5 million recorded a year ago, on the back of higher average realized gold and copper prices.

Average gold prices in the first half stood at $4,073 per ounce, up by 52 percent from $3,093 per ounce last year. Copper prices, meanwhile, rose by 44 percent to $6.23 per pound from $4.32 per pound.

Higher prices helped offset declining volumes of both metals, as gold production fell by seven percent to 41,800 ounces, while copper production declined at a faster pace of 17 percent to 5,900 tons.

“The favorable commodity pricing directly contributed to higher revenue generation and supported operating cash flow and profitability,” the company said.

OGP said the all-in sustaining cost (AISC), or the total cost required to produce an ounce of mineral, increased by 18 percent to $1,436 per ounce, largely due to higher diesel and consumables costs.

The current AISC level is higher than its full-year target of between $975 and $1,100 per ounce. However, OGP expects this to decline in the second half as gold and copper production escalates, along with lower sustaining capital expenditures.

For the year, OGP expects the Didipio gold and copper mine in Luzon to produce between 85,000 and 105,000 ounces of gold and 13,000 to 15,000 tons of copper.

The company has already spent 39 percent, or $3.9 million, of its total exploration budget of $10 million for the year. So far, it has completed 7,920 meters of underground drilling, 990 meters of surface drilling, and 13,310 meters of drilling at its True Blue site.

OGP is targeting the addition of new mineral resources from True Blue, which is seen as a potential offset extension located 800 meters northeast of the Didipio mine.

“We also continue to advance our organic growth projects including the ramp of underground mining rates and the acceleration of drilling both our underground and near-mine regional targets such as True Blue,” said OGP President Joan Adaci-Cattiling.

Earlier, OGP’s parent firm OceanaGold Corp. committed to invest $1.96 billion in the country to extend operations at the Didipio mine beyond 2035, generating up to 2,500 jobs, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).