FNI consolidates mining portfolio

MANILA, Philippines — Listed Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc. (FNI) will concentrate its mining portfolio in its subsidiary Platinum Group Metals Corp.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, FNI said its board approved the termination of its memorandum of agreement dated Nov. 27, 2014 and contract to sell dated Aug. 6, 2015 with Giantlead Prestige Inc., Alpha Centauri Fortune Group Inc., Antares Nickel Capital Inc., Huatai Investment Holding Pty. Ltd. and Wei Ting.

The said deals covered the acquisition of 100 percent of the outstanding capital stock of SPNVI.

The company board authorized FNI president Dante Bravo to execute, sign, deliver and receive all papers or documents to discontinue the contracts.

“The termination paves the way for the corporation to concentrate its mining portfolio in its subsidiary, as Platinum Group Metals Corp. (PGMC) instead will subscribe to the primary shares, as well as purchase the outstanding 300,000 common shares of FNI in SPNVI, making PGMC the majority shareholder of SPNVI,” FNI said.

SPNVI owns at least 90 percent of Ipilan Nickel Corp., which recently started operations and conducted its maiden shipment of nickel ore to China.

Under its Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) with the government, Ipil Nickel is authorized to engage in the exploration, development and utilization for commercial purposes of nickel and other mineral deposits in the municipality of Brooke’s Point, Palawan, with an area of 2,835 hectares.

The mine has an estimated life of at least 10 years, with an annual production rate of 1.5 million WMT of medium- to high-grade nickel ores.

PGMC, a leading nickel ore producer with mining assets in Surigao del Norte, normally delivers more than 60 percent of FNI’s revenues annually.

Bravo said the company is hoping for better weather in the third quarter, during the peak of PGMC’s mining season.

For this year, FNI targets 5.5 million wet metric tons (WMT) of production and export, composed of 60 percent low-grade ore and 40 percent medium-grade ore.

It projects that this target will likely be exceeded, weather permitting, as demand from China remains strong and nickel prices have been rising over the past years.

FNI is a diversified Filipino company with interests in nickel ore mining, logistics, cement and steel production, and port operations.