Australian mining firm Indophil Resources NL jumped to the highest in 10 months in the ASX after one of the Philippines' s largest conglomerate San Miguel Corp. agreed a share placement worth $40-million in the company.

In an interview with the International Business Times, Indophil Resources NL's corporate affairs manager Mr. Gavan Collery said San Miguel Corp. will conduct a due diligence on Indophil and its mining projects in the Philippines.

Indophil shares have risen by 7.2 percent to 96.5 cents at 10:10 a.m. on the Australian stock exchange. That's the highest since Dec. 1 and since talks of a takeover by a Chinese mining firm Zijn failed in June.

San Miguel also disclosed in the Manila stock exchange where it is listed that it has agreed to a share placement option worth 86 Australian cents each for new Indophil shares issued by the company.

"San Miguel has a control proposal option, which they can undertake within the given period, which is until January 2010," noted Mr. Collery.

Within the said time frame, Indophil said that it will not negotiate with other companies.

Indophil is being advised by Gresham Advisory Partners Ltd., Baker & McKenzie and Freehills. San Miguel is being advised by Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and Blake Dawson.

Tampakan copper-gold reserves

In a previous report, Indophil has committed to continue developing its Tampakan copper-gold project in the Philippines.

This is after the company and its potential partners from Chinese firm Zijin Corp. agreed to break the takeover agreement in June.

Melbourne-based Indophil Resources CEO Richard Laufmann said in a statement that they could now pursue new negotiations with other interested investors.

"This is very disappointing and a decision that was nit made easily by either party. However, given the lengthy delay of some months in securing Chinese provincial approval for their offer to Indophil, the circumstance gives Indophil a chance to reconsider other opportunities," Laufmann said in an issued statement.

He added: "Indophil remains committed to maximizing the return to shareholders from the Company's flagship asset, the Tampakan deposit."

The Tampakan Copper-Gold Project (Tampakan Project) is located approximately 50km north of General Santos City , a major growth centre on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.

Data from the company indicated and inferred resource estimate, of 2.4 billion tonnes at 0.6% copper and 0.2 g/t gold at a 0.3% copper cut-off grade, carried out under JORC reporting guidelines, the Tampakan deposit represents the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposit in the South East Asia - Western Pacific Region.