Nihao affiliate ships out P28 million worth of nickel ore to China

MANILA, Philippines - Oriental Vision Mining Philippines Corp., an affiliate of publicly-listed Nihao Minerals International Corp., announced the first sucessful transport of P28 million worth of nickel ore to China from its mine site in Dinagat Island in northeastern Mindanao.

In a statement, Oriental Vision said it shipped approximately 54,000 wet metric tons of nickel ore to the Rizhao Port in mainland China last Aug. 9 with a grade of 0.9 percent nickel.

A second shipment of nickel ore is underway which will have a higher nickel grade of 1.8 percent and an estimated value of more than double the first shipment.

Aside from China, Oriental Vision is planning to ship nickel ore to Australia and Japan in the next few months.

The Palhi mine site in Dinagat had been programmed to produce five million tons of laterite and saprolite nickel ores over the next five years with a partial confirmed mineable ore reserve of 3.3 million metric tons at an average grade of 1.4 percent nickel and more than 30 percent iron.

Established in 2008, Oriental Vision has acquired mining properties and operating rights with major deposits of copper, gold, zinc, sulphur, pyrite, phosphate and coal properties in Sarangani and Surigao provinces.

Oriental Vision also operates the world class Dinapique nickel mine in Isabela, Cagayan, which has a resource potential of 42.8 million DMT and a confirmed mineable reserve of 8.77 million DMT for nickel grade of 1.2 percent cut off.

It is also developing the Abacus coal project, an extensive coal deposit in Tago and Marihatag, Surigao Del Sur. When fully developed, this has a potential resource of 182,000,000 MT. Already 3,400,000 MT of mineable reserves from the seam which generally fall under sub-bituminous coal type has been established.