Copper concentrate trader Bluebird Merchant Ventures Ltd.'s partner in thePhilippines signed an ore supply agreement with a group of small scaleproducers for up to 20,000 tonnes per annum.

The company said July 26 that metallurgical test workconducted on ore samples from four of the five mining areas returned positiveeconomics, with the potential to produce copper concentrate grades of 25% to28% and gold of 8 g/t to 10 g/t.

Bluebird said it also finished the upgrade of the processplant and the laboratory building.

In mid-June, Bluebird's joint venture partner in the Philippines, , releasedthe results of the pre-feasibilitystudy for its Batangas gold project, indicating that the project willgenerate A$46 million in free cash flow during the first seven years ofproduction at a gold price of A$1,700 an ounce.