Nickel Asia on track to hit shipment targets

DINAGAT ISLANDS, Surigao del Norte — Cagdianao Mining Corp. (CMC), a subsidiary of Nickel Asia Corp., is on track to hit its 2.1 million wet metric tons (WMT) of nickel ore shipment target despite backlogs in the past month.

CMC is now fasttracking its shipment operations following the 500,000 WMT backlog due to the unfavorable weather conditions last month.

“We are stepping up our shipments. We didn’t have much operations due to the bad weather. But we’re on track to hit the target, as we are still in our mining peak season,” CMC mine planning engineer Mark Joseph Ostonal said.

As of July, the company has mined 1.5 million WMT and shipped 25 boatloads or 1.35 million WMT.

Every boatload of shipment of nickel ore is about 55,000 WMT. Nickel price currently ranges $20 to $30 per WMT.

CMC also expects a minimal increase in income this year despite a possible lower revenue as nickel prices in the world market remain unstable.

“Nickel price is not so good compared to last year that’s why we see lower revenues. But we still expect higher income as we lower our cost. We try to lower those that can be lowered especially in terms of shipping out,” Ostonal said.

CMC is one of the three nickelmining companies that continue to operate in Dinagat Islands following former Department of Environment and Natural Resources secretary Gina Lopez’s crackdown against irresponsible mining.

There used to be 12 mining operations in Dinagat Islands, one of the country’s mineral reservation areas. The company’s Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) covers 697.05 hectares, 268.21 hectares of which represent the disturbed area.