GLOBAL Ferronickel Holdings, Inc. (GFNI) said that its expansion project for its Cagdianao mine site has an estimated ore reserves of 43.3 million wet metric tons (WMT) as of October 2019.
“The proven and probable ore reserves estimate as of October 15, 2019 for the Platinum Group Metals Corporation Cagdianao Nickel Expansion Project (is) at 43.3 million WMT. The result is lower by 1% or half a million WMT as against the previous year, despite active mine extraction which yielded 5.89 million WMT of shipped nickel ore in 2019,” the listed nickel ore miner said in a statement on Thursday.
This is based on five of seven deposit areas of the expansion project. It was also proven viable based on the economic assessment in line with the Philippine Mineral Reporting Code (PMRC).
The Cagdianao mine project is located in Claver, Surigao del Norte.
GFNI President Dante R. Bravo said that the company is looking into conducting more exploration work in the coming years “to extend the life of the mine beyond its projected eight years mine life.”
“We are also studying other potential resource commodities such as limestone and chromite,” he added.
The mining company is planning for the early extraction of low grade or deposits to take advantage of the increasing nickel ore prices.
Industry stakeholders are expecting an increase in the price of nickel ore due to Indonesia’s export ban, which was implemented starting January this year. This is in line with the country’s plan to fuel the establishment of local smelters to capture more value versus when exporting the ore.
In November 2019, GFNI said that it had agreed to ship one million WMT of ore to Baosteel Resources International Co. Ltd. this year, which will be sourced from the expansion project. Delivery is expected at the start of the dry season in April 2020. It will be comprised of 50% low-grade and 50% medium- to high-grade ore.
As of September last year, GFNI reported a 36% increase in attributable net income to P812.540 million. Revenues went up 5% to P4.786 billion despite a 1.5% drop in the volume of nickel production to 4.642 million WMT or 85 vessels.
Shares in GFNI climbed 2 centavos or 1.21% to close at P1.67 apiece at the stock exchange on Thursday. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang
