Sagittarius Mines Inc announced that it would be reducing its workforce and reduce its budget in the Tampakan copper-gold mine project located in the Philippines. London-based diversified natural resource firm Glencore Xstrata Plc owns a 62.5% stake in Sagittarius Mines. John Arnaldo, a spokesman for Sagittarius, told Reuters that the company would be cutting down as many as 920 jobs. It would also reduce its USD 5.9 billion budget.

Arnaldo revealed that the reason for the reduction was the firm's inability to guarantee that production can commence by 2019. This was due to "substantial development challenges," one of which was the open-pit mining ban in South Cotabato, the province where the mine was located. Arnaldo said, "Until these challenges are resolved it is not possible to determine when commercial production could commence."

Indophil Resources which owns holds a 37.5% stake in Tampakan, however, remained positive that the project will continue. Indophil Chief Executive Officer Richard Laufmann also said the current setback would be temporary and that "every effort will be made to restore the work program to its original plan."