Palawan mine to export nickel concentrates to Japan

The Coral Bay Nickel Corp. (CBNC), a $180-million joint Filipino-Japanese nickel mining and refinery processing project in Rio Tuba, Palawan will start exporting nickel concentrates to Japan next month with an initial shipment of 500 metric tons (MT).

A company official disclosed at the sidelines of the Philippine Mining forum in Makati yesterday that the first shipment will go to the company’s parent firm, Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. (SMMC), one of the world’s biggest nickel producers and refiners which has a 54-percent stake in the company. Its partners include local mining firm Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corp. (RTNMC) headed by its president Manuel Zamora Jr. with a 10-percent share, Mitsui & Co., Ltd., and Sojitz Corp. with 18-percent equity shares each. The company is capitalized at P587.5 million.

"By March, we should begin to export at least 500 metric tons of nickel concentrate to Japan. By the end of the year we would have shipped 10,000 to 15,000 metric tons as our production increases," said the company official.

The same source added that CBNC will reach its peak production capacity by 2006 when the plant output is projected to reach 20,000 MT. When fully operational, the company will become the country’s biggest producer of nickel.

The 20-year project includes the construction of a hydrometalurgical processing plant adjacent to RTNMC’s Rio Tuba Mine to process nickel and cobalt sulfide from existing stockpiles of low grade nickel ores.

The project at Rio Tuba got under way in April 2002 with the establishment of CBNC, the joint venture of the four cooperating partners.

The plant was commissioned after the mechanical completion of the processing plant last August. SMMC has assigned more than 30 of its own engineers to the site.

The Coral Bay Nickel Project is of major significance for SMMC in its quest to expand its overseas presence and enhance its expertise in nickel-oxide ore processing and related engineering. In the first year, 10,000 MT of nickel and 700 MT of cobalt will be produced.

SMMC will purchase the entire volume of nickel/cobalt MS produced at the plant. At SMMC’s Niihama Nickel Refinery in Ehime prefecture, this will serve as raw material for producing electrolytic nickel and electrolytic cobalt applying SMM’s world-leading MCLE (matte chlorine leach electrowinning) technology.

Among the nickel-oxide ores RTN has mined at Rio Tuba, low-grade laetrile, not being suitable for nickel recovery using conventional methods, has been stockpiled for approximately 20 years. With the introduction of HPAL, however, processing of laetrile has become feasible, and this will serve as the raw material. Some 16 million MT of laetrile for processing will be stored next to the plant site — enough to provide raw material for this project for about 20 years.

The project is expected to generate new demand for approximately 260,000 MT of sulfuric acid per year.