Global Ferronickel Holdings, Inc. (FNI), Philippines’ second-largest nickel ore producer, opened its third mining area in its Cagdianao mine through its subsidiary Platinum Group Metals Corporation and started 2019’s mining and shipping season earlier than it did last year.
FNI’s third mining area in Cagdianao called CAGA 3 is expected to deliver 25 percent of its shipping target this year allowing the company to have a greater flexibility in its product offerings.
“With a positive outlook of the Nickel industry, our goal was to kick off this year’s mining season earlier than last year. We were able to mobilize our mining operators and have been preparing for vessel loading with Nickel ores as early as March,” said Atty. Dante R. Bravo, President of FNI, in a disclosure.
Bravo said that the company had completed its first wholesale shipment of China-bound medium-grade nickel ore on March 31, a few days ahead of shipments in 2018. The exact number of the shipment is unknown.
The company expects to ship 5.7 million wet metric tons of nickel ore to China for 2019. Compared to 2018’s this year projected shipments to the China, which is the largest nickel consumer globally, is flat due to the country’s cooling economic growth and weighed demand.
Additionally, the Philippines’ nickel mining is disrupted by seasonal rains which usually starts in October or November and continues through March or April the following year.
FNI’s mine site in Surigao del Norte is subdivided into seven Cagdianao areas (CAGA). Up until 2018, the company has only been operating in two CAGA areas (CAGA 2 and CAGA 4) to support its nickel ore shipments.
