The Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) has scheduled a public scoping for the proposed P560-million Dangla nickel project in the municipality of Quezon in Palawan.
In a notice posted on the EMB’s website, the scoping has been set for May 20 and 21 to give the company a chance to discuss with the public an overview of the proposed project and gather issues, concerns and other relevant information from local residents.
A report attached to the notice identified the project developer Berong Nickel Corp. (BNC) and placed the project cost at P560.18 million to extract an estimated 2 million wet metric tons (WMT) of nickel ore.
The proposed project area would cover 650.66 hectares and the nickel ore would be extracted using shallow surface mining, the BNC said in the document.
The company said it got its Strategic Environmental Plan Clearance for mining explorations and operations from the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development on March 24, 2022.
“By integrating advanced geological data with environmental considerations, the project is strategically positioned to optimize resource utilization while maintaining responsible mining practices,” the BNC explained in the document.
“Beyond its economic contributions, the Dangla nickel project is expected to generate significant employment across all stages of its operations, from initial site development through full-scale production,” the company further said.
The BNC described the mining extraction component of the Dangla nickel project as “inherently site specific,” adding it would be strictly regulated by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau. Unlike other industries where alternative locations can be considered, “mineral extraction is dependent on the presence of economically viable ore deposits” in the Palawan project. The only alternative would be to abandon its development entirely if not enough viable ore deposits were to be found, the BNC explained in the document.
BNC is a subsidiary of the DMCI Mining Corp., which is under the DMCI Holdings Inc.
Apart from developing the Dangla project, the BNC is currently rehabilitating the Berong mine also located in Quezon, Palawan, after its depletion in 2021.
The company has allotted P110 million to decommission and rehabilitate the area to stabilize the mined-out area through benching, drainage construction and planting of endemic and indigenous trees.
The BNC earlier said the Berong mine generated a total of 1,634 direct and indirect jobs, yielded 10.3 million WMT of nickel ore, and P2.6 billion worth of mining duties, royalties, and taxes before its depletion.
