MANILA, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Australia's OceanaGold Ltd (OGC.AX) (OGC.TO) may proceed with a $320 million gold and copper project in the Philippines without a strategic partner because the surge in gold prices has made the venture more viable, a senior official said on Tuesday. Australia's fourth-largest listed gold miner is reviewing the cost of resuming construction work at the Didipio project, in the northern Nueva Vizcaya province, which was suspended in December due to rising cost estimates. "We're still looking for a strategic partner but because of the price of gold and the success of our operations in New Zealand, it's not that urgent," Jose Leviste, chairman of OceanaGold (Philippines) Inc, told reporters. Asked if the company would be able to push through with the project without a partner, Leviste said: "Yes, we will be able to do it, but we might scale down the project." Gold prices steadied at around $1,000 an ounce on Tuesday, supported by the dollar's weakness that helped the precious metal's recent surge to 18-month highs. [GOL/] "The price of gold makes Philippine projects like ours more viable now," he said. The Didipio mine is expected to produce around 120,000 ounces of gold and 15,000 tonnes of copper concentrate a year in its first 10 years of production. Higher costs for equipment and raw materials increased the estimated total cost of the Didipio project to $320 million in May 2008 from $155 million in 2006. OceanaGold, which also operates the largest gold mine, Macraes, in New Zealand, had already postponed the start of commercial production at Didipio by nearly a year to January 2010 even before it put the entire project on hold last December. (Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Alex Richardson)

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