ASX-listed copper and gold mining company Celsius Resources has announced that its Philippine subsidiary, Makilala Mining, has secured an exploration permit for its Botilao Porphyry copper-gold prospect in the Philippines.

The two-year exploration permit was issued by the Philippine Mines and Geosciences Bureau for the prospect 320km north of Manila.

The prospect is within Makilala’s portfolio, which has a tenement area of 947.67 hectares. Historical exploration was carried out by Lepanto Consolidated Mining in the 1970s, which included drilling diamond boreholes and geochemical sampling along exploratory tunnels.

A 1973 report from the Bureau of Mines indicates that Lepanto was able to mark out two major mineralisation zones.

Drilling and exploration tunnel work around Botilao near the Pasil River indicates samples with copper grades of up to 1%, according to the report.

The present exploration work programme to be undertaken by Makilala is aimed at defining the extent and distribution of the observed mineralisation along Botilao Creek.

The programme is expected to include regional and semi-detailed geochemical sampling and mapping for future targeting for possible geophysical surveys and diamond drilling.

The company further claims that exploration will be undertaken along with an environmental work programme, which will outline environmental protection activities during the exploration period and a community development programme.

Celsius Resources managing director Peter Hume said: “Given its location, it is possible that the mineralisation controls in the Botilao Prospect are similar to those at the Maalinao-Caigutan-Biyog Copper-Gold (MCB) Project deposit.

“Thus, they may have the same mineralisation style and grades, which will be confirmed once we progress the exploration. This prospect, once developed, will bring additional value to Celsius’ portfolio and complement the MCB Project.”