Bluebird Merchant Ventures Ltd. secured a local partner for its Batangas gold project in the Philippines.

Eco-Cities Property Holdings Inc. will take over all aspects of community well-being and permitting and will help the company develop an environmental plan to advance the project to production, according to a Feb. 3 news release.

The local partner can earn a total of 20% of project-level equity in the local subsidiary company, MRL Gold Inc., based on key permitting milestones.

A definitive agreement is expected by the end of this quarter.

Bluebird added that it is also looking at other opportunities in the wider Southeast Asia region due to the uncertainty over operating mines in the Philippines.

Earlier this week, the Philippine government ordered the closure of 23 mines in the country.