DMCI Mining registers all-time high income for 1Q

Consunji-led DMCI Mining Corporation registered a Php543 million net income for the first quarter of 2022 – its highest income for any quarter.

The figure was also a 14% jump from last year’s Php477 million.

DMCI Mining shipped a total of 620,000 wet metric tons (WMT) of nickel ore for the first quarter, 25.5% higher than the 494,000 WMT from the same period last year.

However, nickel production from subsidiary Berong Nickel Corporation dipped by 43% from 555,000 WMT to 318,000 WMT for the first quarter.

Zambales Diversified Metals Corporation, meanwhile, produced 318,000 WMT for the first quarter this year, five percent higher than the 313,000 WMT produced in the same period last year.

“We had a very good start to the year. Unfortunately, without a second operating asset, it would be impossible to maintain our output,” DMCI Mining President Tulsi Das Reyes said in a statement.

DMCI is looking to expand its mining operations by another 3,500 hectares, with a potential nickel resource of 200 million WMT.

“Our main challenge now is securing the necessary permits to expand our operations,” Reyes said. With a full permit, these assets can sustain DMCI Mining for at least 50 years.

In May, parent firm DMCI Holdings Inc. said that it was considering merging DMCI Mining and sister firm Semirara Mining and Power Corporation if it would create value for their two sets of stockholders.