The source said the total included an initial 870 tonnes of copper concentrate, its first output of the metal from Rapu-Rapu, which a company spokesman had already said would be shipped.

"Another 1,800 tonnes of copper and zinc concentrate may be shipped next week, also to China," the source, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters.

The copper was incidental production from the Rapu-Rapu project during the test run of the base metals plant last year, before it was forced to shut in early December due to damage caused by a typhoon. Both shipments have been sold to South Korean trading firm LG International Corp, the source said. Horacio Ramos, head of the Philippines' Mines and Geosciences Bureau, said there was no legal impediment for Lafayette to sell incidental production from its Rapu-Rapu mine. "They can sell their production as long as they pay the excise tax," he told Reuters.

The government allowed Lafayette to test its base metals facility starting July 10 until Dec. 8 last year, after two cyanide spills in October 2005 that led to a temporary closure.

On Thursday, Lafayette spokesman Bayani Agabin said his firm aims to reopen Rapu-Rapu in February after getting Philippine regulatory approval. Typhoon Durian, in late November, toppled electrical poles and damaged housing facilities for the staff at the mine. But there was no critical damage to the base metals plant, Agabin said.

The Rapu-Rapu project was the first foreign-owned mine to open after the Supreme Court upheld in December 2004 the legality of a law granting 100 percent foreign ownership of mining projects, up from 40 percent previously. But the spills in Rapu-Rapu raised the ire of Philippine Catholic bishops and environment groups.

Before the suspension, the mine was forecast to generate revenues of $350 million a year from production of 10,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate, 14,000 tonnes of zinc, 50,000 ounces of gold and 600,000 ounces of silver.

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