SHANGHAI, Dec 1 – DMCI Holdings Inc said on Wednesday that its Berong nickel mine in the Philippines is expected to run out of resources before the end of the year, and the mine will be decommissioned and repaired.
The Berong Nickel Mine, located in Palawan Province, the western province of the Philippines, is one of the 28 nickel mines currently being mined in the Philippines. The Philippines is China's largest supplier of nickel ore.
Although Berong's production is not as large as the mines operated by the two largest nickel ore producers in the Philippines, Nickel Asia Corp and Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc., its suspension may tighten the vlobal nicke supply.
According to data from the International Nickel Industry Study Group (INSG), the global nickel supply gap was 5,200 mt in September, which was lower than the 14,600 mt in the previous month.
According to government data, from January to September this year, the production of nickel in the Philippines increased by 29% to 325,848 mt on the year.
Berong nickel mine was put into production in October 2006 and has so far yielded 10.3 million wmt of nickel ore output.
DMCI said in a statement that the six-year restoration period will cover 343 hectares (848 acres) of "disturbed areas", which will be handed over to the government for ecotourism, agricultural and forestry intercropping, and inland fisheries.
