Citinickel to hike laterite ore output

NARRA, Palawan, Philippines – Citinickel Mines and Development Corp., a unit of listed mining firm Oriental Peninsula Resources Group (ORE), intends to increase production of its Toronto mine in  this municipality and expand open areas.

The company is set to raise its current production level of 10,000 wet metric tons to between 13,000 and 15,000 wet metric tons by year end.

Toronto mine resident manager Jainal Uy told visiting reporters over the weekend that the company also intends to increase the open areas in the mine to 50 hectares from the current 40 hectares to prolong the lifespan of the mine beyond an estimated 10 years.

The Toronto mine tenement comprises an area of 768 hectares of the total open areas, four hectares have been mined out and are undergoing rehabilitation.

The Toronto mine began commercial operations in 2011. And produced two million wet metric tons of nickel ore that is shipped to smelters in Australia, China and Japan last year.

Jainal said the company is keeping its production guidance of a little over two million metric tons for this year while preparations for increasing ore production is carried out.

The company is allotting a budget of P800 million this year for expansion activities including bringing in of additional equipment like dump trucks and an ore crusher.

Jainal said the company currently enjoys good buying prices for nickel ore at $17 to $18 million per ton because of tight supply from Surigao.

“Buyers prefer ore with high iron content,” he said.

The Toronto nickel mine currently produces ore with a high iron content of 48 percent and high nickel grade of between 1.8 percent and two percent.

Citinickel holds a 25-year mineral production sharing agreement issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources covering 2,176 hectares of land in southern Palawan.

Of the total area, 1,408 hectares are located in Española town while 768 hectares are in the municipality of Narra.

In an earlier interview ORE president and chairman of the board Caroline Tanchay said the holding firm intends to put up more nickel-iron mines within the next five years.

She said the firm prefers to put up more mines in Palawan but is also considering other locations.

ORE has a 94 percent equity in Citinickel which operates the Pulot mine in the municipality of Sofronio Espanola and Toronto Mine in Narra municipalities in Palawan.

ORE reported a net income of P467.37 million during its first year of full operations in 2011, a reversal of the P6.62million loss incurred in 2010.

Tanchay said the company will book a larger net income for 2012 as both mines are now in full operations.

Citinickel officials over the weekend presented the progress made in the rehabilitation of the areas affected by the silt spill that occurred in its Toronto mine and contaminated the Pinagduguan river in November last year.