Anglo American PLC Group, the world’s fourth-largest diversified mining group, is exploring copper and gold deposits in several areas of Cordillera region, a ranking official of the company said today.

In an interview with reporters during a mining conference held here, Roderick Wattt, Anglo American’s exploration manager for the Philippines, said the firm has already secured an exploration permit from the government to study a potential 8,000-hectare mining site in the northern province of Apayao.

Watt said that the company will pour in $1 million to finance the exploration.

He added that the company is applying for a permit to explore other provinces in the Cordiller region, home to the country’s major copper and gold mines.

This is not the first time that the London-based mining firm has ventured in the Philippines. Anglo American has earlier explored the copper and gold mining deposits in Boyongan mine in Surigao province. The company, however, decided to drop the project as their study showed that the mining site would not produce an acceptable rate of return.

The government has been actively seeking investors in its growing mining industry. Since 2004, over $2 billion in both foreign and local investments have been poured in the country.

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