Philippines’ PGMC starts shipping nickel ore to China

Philippine nickel ore producer Global Ferronickel's (FNI) subsidiary Platinum Group Metals (PGMC) has shipped to China its first batch of nickel ore for this year's mining season.

The shipment consists of 55,300 wet metric tonnes (wmt) of low-grade 1.2pc nickel ore, according to its Philippines Stock Exchange filing on 26 April. The shipment departed from PGMC's anchorage area on 24 April.

"We hope to complete 91 shipments for the year, totalling 5mn wmt, [if] weather permit[s]. This year's target volume will enable us to operate at maximum efficiency throughout the season which runs from March to October," said FNI's president Dante R Bravo.

The projected sales mix will consist of 60pc medium-grade and 40pc low-grade nickel ore, according to FNI.

FNI on 20 March said it signed a purchase agreement with Chinese steel firm Baosteel Resources and will supply it 1.5mn wmt of nickel ore during its 2023 mining season.

PGMC is the Philippines' second-largest exporter, after Nickel Asia, and exported all of its nickel ore to China in 2021 and 2022. It operates the lateritic nickel Cagdianao mine in the Philippines' Dinagat Islands province, which produces and exports nickel ore typically only during the dry season from April-October every year, with suspension of mining operations during the rainy season.

FNI in March said it is planning to expand the production capacity of its Palawan mine operated by its subsidiary Ipilan Nickel to 1.5mn wmt/yr in 2023, which will complement its Cagdianao mine that has a production capacity of 7.5mn wmt/yr.

But operations at Palawan mine have faced a backlash from domestic residents and non-profit organisations like the Green Livelihoods Alliance, according to forest preservation collaborative network the Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange Programme, which said on 17 April the citizens that formed a human barricade to peacefully protest Palawan's mining operations were harassed by its security forces.

Non-profit Alyansa Tigil Mina supported the call for the issuance of a cease and desist order and cancellation of the mineral product-sharing agreement of Ipilan Nickel.

Domestic religious organisations Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Princesa and Apostolic Vicariate of Taytay also said on 17 April that Ipilan Nickel "acted in blatant defiance of the law by continuously operating its mine" that had its mayor's permit to operate expire on 1 February.

Ipilan Nickel on 1 March filed a complaint to the government's anti-bureaucracy agency the Anti-Red Tape Authority, questioning the "demands and delays" in approving its business permit renewal.

By Joseph Ho