DMCI Mining Corp., the parent company of Philippine mining company Berong Nickel Corp. (BNC), said Nov. 23 it will spend an additional 50 million pesos over four years to complete the rehabilitation of the Palawan Nickel project.
Tulsi Das Reyes, president of DMCI Mining, said they have increased the budget for the revitalization of the Quezon nickel mine after a sharp rise in fuel costs. "Fuel is first, second and third. When we set the budget, fuel prices were not that high."
The company initially set aside P110 million for a six-year recovery plan starting in June 2022. So far, nearly 80 million pesos have been spent. Mr Reyes said the restoration of the Quezon mine was "ahead of schedule" and was now "about 75 per cent" complete. Even so, BNC is in no rush to make improvements and intends to focus on getting the job done. "What we are doing now is continuing to plant," he said, adding that they are also working to stabilize the soil in the area. "I want to make sure that when they present [the final mine restoration plan], it's as close to perfect as possible." We have no motivation to finish early, so let's do the right thing, "he added.
BNC earlier reported that its annual land rehabilitation target for 2023 was 34 hectares and that more than 30 hectares of land at the Berong nickel mine had been rehabilitated.
The Berong mine, one of DMCI Mining's two operating nickel assets, commenced operations in October 2006 and was fully depleted by December 2021. Another nickel asset of DMCI Mining is Zambales Chromite Mining Co., which recently received the President's Mining Environment Award (PMIEA).
From January to September 2023, ZDMC nickel ore production surged 83% from 716,000 wet tons to an all-time high of 1.312 million wet tons as mining capacity increased.
ZDMC has obtained the necessary Environmental compliance Certificate (ECC) to increase its nickel ore production from 1 million wet tonnes to 2 million wet tonnes from January 2023. In the third quarter alone, ZDMC production increased by 28%, from 149,000 wet tons to 190,000 wet tons.
