Nihao unit readies first nickel shipment to China

MANILA, Philippines -  Oriental Vision Mining Philippines Corp. (ORVI), an affiliate of publicly-listed Nihao Mineral Resources International, is preparing to make its first shipment of nickel ore from its Palhi mine site to China.

In a statement, ORVI said it plans to ship out 55,000 wet metric tons (WMT) of nickel ore to Rizhao Port in mainland China and expects to make more shipments to China as well as to Australia and Japan in the coming months.

The Palhi nickel mine site is located in the municipalities of Loreto and Tubajon in Dinagat Island. Only 11 percent of the 2,300-hectare property has been explored and over 10 million WMT of reserves have already been defined.

This reserve is composed of high iron limonite ore for nickel pig iron manufacturing, high nickel and high iron grade limonite for ammonia leaching and high nickel saprolite ore for atmospheric leaching.

“The geology of the nickel deposit of Palhi is comparable to that of other nickel-rich countries such as Indonesia, Australia and New Caledonia,” ORVI said.

ORVI has operating high-grade nickel mines in Surigao as well as several exploration projects in gold, copper, sulphur, phosphate and coal. It is 30-percent owned by Nihao.

For its part, Nihao is aiming to become a leading nickel mining and processing company in the country by building up its operating capability to explore and develop its mining claims, entering into strategic alliances and joint ventures, establishing a strong base of Chinese clients, and pursuing strategic acquisitions.

It owns over 7,102 hectares of mining claims in Botolan and Iba, Zambales.

Nihao has started discussions with ORVI management on the possibility of assigning the operating rights of its properties to ORVI and entering into a profit-sharing agreement, a royalty agreement or a combination of the two.