Platinum Group’s unit to export P25.2-B worth of ferronickel
Filed under Business by Pangasinan Today on 25-07-2008
MCCI Corp., the holding company for the smelting operations of nickel miner Platinum Group Metals Corp. (PGMC), said Wednesday it would export P25.2 billion worth of ferronickel in five years starting 2009.
The company expects to start commercial operations of its P2-billion ferronickel smelting projects early next year. These are located in Manticao, Misamis Oriental; Iligan City and Danao City in Cebu province.
It estimates to produce 1.61 million pounds of ferronickel worth P718.93 million in its first year of operations; 11.44 million pounds valued P5.37 billion in the second year; and 13.71 million pounds worth P6.38 billion in the third to fifth years.
MCCI earlier obtained fiscal incentives from the Board of Investments for its smelting projects.
The incentives included a six-year income tax holiday and zero duty on capital equipment importation, among others.
MCCI said it intends to hire about 1,500 workers including those for its ore tendering activities in the said plant sites.
Prior to the start of its commercial operations, the company have to comply with administrative requirements such as the increase in its capital to P499 million, acquisition of smelter equipment from PGMC to fully integrate all assets, as well as operational, environmental protection and management systems upgrading and testing.
Its smelter plant in Manticao was recently granted a mineral processing permit (MPP) by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, allowing it to produce 11,000 metric tons of ferronickel annually for five years.
PGMC is the only integrated mining and ferronickel company in the country with assets worth P3 billion.
to all readers: don’t take platinum seriously. kindly read the news article that came out in the july 30, issue of the daily tribune. platinum is a phony firm. cocky catalan
P2B ferronickel smelting project runs into problems
07/30/2008
Top officials of Platinum Group of Metals Corp. (PGMC) have announced their P2 billion project with much fanfare, saying it could lift the local mineral processing industry from its current lethargic state, but its ferronickel smelting project is proving to be commercially unviable and unsustainable, if not unmanageable.
�It�s difficult to pursue,� says an industry insider, who has been keeping track of PGMC�s much-ballyhooed ferronickel smelting project.
PGMC is now meeting difficulties on two fronts: the three converted ferronickel smelting plants are too old and antiquated. Having outlived their usefulness, they easily conk out, require huge conversion and maintenance cost, and pose hazards to the environment and communities, thus triggering more problems; and the firm does not have assured and steady supply of either imported or locally-sourced nickel ores to feed the three converted ferronickel smelters.
The PGMC has been issuing press statements about the projected completion and launching of the project within this year � or next year, according to the latest press statement � of the P2 billion ferronickel smelting project, the first ever in the country�s economic history.
Company officials have been justifying the project, arguing that it could provide additional value for the nation�s nickel exports, as semi-processed (or smelted) ferronickel commands greater bigger price than plain iron-nickel ores.
Using an offshore commercial credit of $40 million from Deutsche Bank, PGMC has acquired three mothballed industrial plants and its press statements claimed it has modified and rehabilitated them to suit for ferronickel smelting operations.
With an average age of 50 years, the three mothballed industrial plants are virtual junks that have very little use for a complicated industrial process that heavily requires power � and extreme caution. Mineral processing like smelting has been notorious for causing environmental mishaps and health problems for both workers and communities exposed to their toxic byproducts.
These industrial plants are the former calcium carbide plant of Maria Christina Chemical Industries (MCCI) in Iligan City; the former ferrochrome plant of Araneta Properties in Manticao, Misamis Oriental; and the former cement plant of the Richfields-Lafarge Industrial Corp. in Danao City, Cebu.
The Iligan City ferronickel plant had initiated trial operations in April, but before it could go fully operational, residents of a nearby community were complaining of an outbreak of skin diseases that was traced to airborne and waterborne toxic and cancer-inducing pollutants emitted by the plant.
This pushed the mining firm to unilaterally suspend operations for 90 days, but residents were calling for its total closure as they have described the ferronickel smelter as both a health hazard and an environmental threat.