Benguetcorp Nickel inks off-take deal with Minecore

MANILA, Philippines - Benguet Corp. disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday that its subsidiary, Benguetcorp Nickel Mines, Inc. (BNMI), the project company for its nickel operation, has signed an off-take agreement with Minecore Resources lnc., a subsidiary of Dunfeng Holding lnc., for the sale and delivery of two million metric tons of nickel ore grading 1.6 percent above in the uncommitted portion of its property.

Mincore Resources Private Limited is an associate of ETA – Ascon Group (Emirates Trading Agency-Associated Construction).

A multi-dimensional vastly diversified organization, the ETA-Ascon Group today stands as a pre-eminent corporate entity in the Middle East.

It was established in 1973 as a joint venture between Al Ghurair Group of the United Arab Emirates and Amana Investments Limited, the Hong Kong-based company of B.S.Abdur Rahman, vice chairman of ETA-Ascon Group.

Benguet Corp. acted as marketing agent of BNMI in the transaction. BNMI operates the nickel laterite mine in Sta. Cruz, Zambales, under MPSA No. 226-2005-lll.

Benguet had previously disclosed that BNMI is finalizing a term supply contract for up to 1.8 million metric tons of nickel ore to complement the existing off-take arrangement with D.M. Consunji Inc.

BNMI, a wholly owned subsidiary of Benguet, generated net earnings of P28 million from nickel ore shipments from its Sta. Cruz nickel project in the first six months of this year, as against nil in the same period in 2010.

BNMI is currently undertaking a feasibility study to develop a processing capability for value added nickel products.