Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc. (FNI) said subsidiary Platinum Group Metals Corp. (PGMC) started shipping out nickel ore to its customers in China last week.
The company said for this year, it targets to ship 6 million wet metric tons (WMT) , of which 70 percent are low-grade nickel ore and 30 percent medium-grade nickel ore.
“We areconfident of hitting this year’s target, weather permitting, with the opening of Cagdianao area 1 next month which is expected to boost capacity by 10 percent,” said Dante Bravo, FNI president.
Bravo said in a statement the opening of Cagdianao area 1 brings to four the operational mining areas of PGMC in Surigao del Norte.
Bravo also said FNI’s capital expenditure for the year is pegged at $5 million.
Apart from expanding its mine sites, the company is also constructing a $50-million rebar steel rolling plant in Bataan which will start commercial operations next year.
The facility will have an annual output of 600,000 tons of steel bar.
FNI is the country’s second-largest nickel ore producer. -Jed Macapagal
