Toledo Mining to make first ore shipment to Japan

Toledo Mining Corp. Plc (TMC) will make its first shipment of ore from its nickel mining operations in Palawan to Nippon Metals and Alloy Inc. of Japan by March next year.

TMC, whose stock is traded at the London Metals Exchange (LME) market disclosed that it has also recently renegotiated its supply agreement with Nippon Metals.

TMC’s local partner in the nickel ore project in Palawan is Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. (ACMDC) which is also preparing to reopen its 400-hectare mining area in Toledo City, Cebu.

Under the new deal, TMC will be increasing its shipment to the Japanese company by 50,000 metric tons (MT) to 350,000 MT from the original target of 300,000 MT of ore grading not less than 2.1 percent nickel per annum.

The contract between TMC and Nippon Metals is effective for five years and the base price of the ore will be FOB Berong Port in Palawan on a dry basis and equivalent to 23 percent of the quoted price of nickel on the LME market, the company said in a statement.

The company added it is also currently in deep negotiations with another major Japanese smelter for the sale of 300,000 MT of direct shipping ore. TMC said it will sell 6,000 MT as bulk sample for testing before the contract is finalized.

At the same time, TMC is studying proposals from several parties that are keen on participating on the development of its extensive nickel resources estimated at 350 million MT of nickel in Palawan.

The TMC nickel project is one of two nickel mining and refinery projects in Palawan.

Late last year, the Coral Bay Nickel Corp., a joint undertaking of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. and Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corp. commissioned the nickel refinery plant in Rio Tuba.

The company is investing about $180 million with operations scheduled to continue over a period of 20 years.