MORE THAN 1,000 FEARED DEAD FROM PHILIPPINES TYPHOON

The official death toll as a result of the typhoon that struck the Philippines late last week has risen to 425, with a further 599 missing, according to government officials. A further 20,000 are in evacuation centres, while up to a million people were “affected” by the event. Most of the dead and missing are in the Albay province north of the capital of Legapazi, where the rains dislodged volcanic debris left over from an eruption at Mount Mayon earlier this year. Philippines president Gloria Arroyo said that the country could have to spend 15bn pesos in rescue. The agriculture department said that the farm sector had incurred about 830m pesos in damage, with the rice sector suffering the most, with about 23,000 hectares impacted. About 7,000 hectares of corn crops were hit. Meanwhile, the Lafayette Mining Ltd polymetallic project on the island of Rapu Rapu reportedly has been interrupted by the typhoon. When in full production, the project would be expected to produce about 10,000 tonnes of copper in concentrates, 14,000 tonnes of similar zinc, 50,000 ounces of gold and 600,000 ounces of silver. Vietnam was today bracing itself for the impact of Durian. The country has evacuates tens of thousands of people as the storm was scheduled to hit the south-central provinces of Khanh Hoa and Ninh Thuan on Monday night.