Florjenmar Mining and Development Corp. (FMDC) is seeking approval for the development of the Gutalac nickel project in the Zamboanga Peninsula region, documents submitted to the Environmental Management Bureau showed.
The estimated total operating cost for the seven-year life of the mine is P1.7 billion. The project covers 200 kilometers (km) by road distance northeast of Zamboanga City, 70 km northwest of the town of Ipil and 170 km southwest of Dipolog City.
FMDC has secured an exploration permit for an area traversing 5,426.57 hectares (ha), 114.50 ha of which covers the proposed mining and mining components under the company’s Environmental Compliance Certificate application.
The company eyes an annual ore extraction rate of 500,000 metric tons per year and plans to hire about 400 workers.
FMDC said it also has the exclusive rights for the lateritic nickel mineralization within the vicinity of Gutalac, Zamboanga del Norte which has been discovered as early as 1990s.
FMDC will apply simple open cast or bench mining method due to the site’s shallow deposits and marketability of both limonite and saprolite ores.
