MANILA - A unit of Philippines' Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp., raised $300 million from the sale of five-year fixed-rate notes, one of the issue's managers said on Monday, becoming the first local miner to tap the offshore debt market. 

Carmen Copper Corp's unrated notes attracted "large" demand from overseas investors, BDO Capital & Investment Corp said, despite industry concerns over a new mining policy the Philippines will soon unveil. 

"We can say (the outcome) shows confidence in mining prospects of Carmen and the Philippines in general," BDO Capital president Eduardo Francisco told Reuters. BDO Capital is a unit of BDO Unibank Inc, which partly owns Atlas. 

The Philippines will release this month a new mining policy that would raise tax revenues and overhaul rules but which miners fear will drive away investors in the largely untapped $1 trillion resource base.

Carmen, which operates a copper mine in central Cebu province, sold its entire offer at a coupon of 6.5 percent. 

Proceeds will be used to refinance a portion of the debt of Carmen and Atlas and fund expansion plans. 

Atlas said in November it was exploring potential copper sites to expand mining operations in Cebu as it seeks to hike output by 50 percent in two years to 60,000 tonnes per day of copper concentrates. 

Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Ltd also acted as issue manager and bookrunner for Carmen's issue.