Page 92 - pd276-Oct19-mag-web_Neat

NICKel CoNFeReNCe PReVIeW

Philippine nickel ore output

may rise

Philippine nickel miners are likely to ramp up ore output by next year, but their

production capacity is limited by a number of factors, including government-imposed
mining curbs, the head of the local industry lobby group said in September.

The South East Asian nation’s nickel it would stop nickel ore Each mining company
exports from January 1,
ore output may rise in the 2020 mining nesian authorities had “
season, but the volume is unlikely to 2020 (see page 91). has its own mining
return to the 2014 record-high level of Speculation about the
about 50mt, Dante Bravo, president of ban and the eventual plans and, of course, they
the Philippine Nickel Industry Associa- confirmation by Indo-
tion, said. would want at this time to
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau fuelled a rally in nickel
(MGB), the industry watchdog under the prices in recent weeks. optimise the use of their
Department of Environment and Natural “When you have high-
Resources (DENR), limits the land that er prices, even lower resources, so they have to
miners can develop at any one time un- grades can be saleable do it carefully.
der new rules introduced in September already unlike before,”
last year to protect the environment. Bravo said.
“I don’t think we will return to that lev- “But I won’t say it’s
el because the DENR has already im- minimal. We’ll see,” he said about the tions as the top two suppliers to biggest
buyer China.
posed this area limit that you can mine,
prospective increase in Philippine ore
“ When you have higher pany has its own mining rely mainly on the Philippines for sup-
By next year, when Indonesia bans
and there is no new mine that’s being
output.
nickel ore exports, China is expected to
“Each mining com-
ply of the material for stainless steel and
plans and, of course,
electronic vehicle battery.
they would want at this
prices, even lower
The suspension was based on a
time to optimise the use
memorandum order dated August 5
of their resources, so
grades can be saleable
issued by the regional government,
they have to do it care-
fully,” he said.
already unlike before.
ters’ queries about the status of mining
Following
Bravo’s
in the region’s Tawi-Tawi province.
comments on potential Macacua said in an email reply to Reu-
for more nickel produc- Latest available industry data showed
opened,” Bravo told reporters on the tion from Philippines, a nickel mining that 2.34 million wmt of high-grade ore,
sidelines of a Philippine mining confer- hub in the country’s south, which pro- or nearly 90% of 2.66 million wmt of the
ence. duces mostly high-grade material, had high-grade material the Philippines ex-
“We are limited also by the weather,” extraction operations suspended in- ported to China in the first half of 2018
he said. Bravo is also president of the definitely as the regional government came from Tawi-Tawi.
Philippines’ second-biggest nickel ore conducts an industry audit, a top gov- Tawi-Tawi accounted for 27% of over-
exporter Global Ferronickel Holdings ernment official told Reuters in mid- all nickel ore exports, totaling 15.8 mil-
Inc. September. lion wmt, to China during the six-month
The mining season in the Philippines The Government of Bangsamoro Au- period.
usually starts in April and ends in Octo- tonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao “The suspension order was due to
ber. Mining and shipping operations are (BARMM) has suspended operations of the ongoing review of mining policy in
halted towards the end of the year until all four mining companies in its jurisdic- BARMM,” Macacua said.
the first quarter of the following year be- tion, Environment, Natural Resources – Enrico dela Cruz, Reuters
cause of strong rains and winds in the and Energy Minister Ab-
mining region. dulraof Abdul Macacua,
In 2020, when last year’s top producer said. The suspension
Indonesia is due to ban its ore exports, The Philippines was the “
China is expected to rely mainly on nick- world’s second-largest order was due to the
el ore from the Philippines, according to nickel ore producer in
analysts. 2018 after Indonesia, with ongoing review of mining
Indonesia said earlier in September both South East Asian na- policy in BARMM.
Page 92 OCTOBeR 2019 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT