NICKEL Asia Corp. (PSE: NKL) on Wednesday said it was slapped with a P100,000 fine by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) for loading nickel ores onto a marine vessel sans the necessary government permit.
NKL said its unit Rio Tuba Nickel (RTN) Mining Corp. loaded nickel ores onto Marine Vessel (MV) Jin Yuan last February 6 without having received an Authority to Load from the BOC.
“On February 7, 2023, the BOC advised RTN representatives that loading should only commence upon RTN’s receipt of the Authority to Load issued by the BOC pursuant to Section 16 of Customs Memorandum Order 22-2010 Revised Customs Port Operations Manual,” NKL said.
NKL said RTN received verbal instructions from the BOC last February 7 directing it to pay a penalty of P100,000.00 before it could resume the loading of ores onto MV Jin Yuan, a bulk carrier sailing under the flag of Hong Kong.
The company said it paid the penalty on the same day.
NKL owns four mines operated by its subsidiaries. These are: Rio Tuba mine in Palawan operated by RTN; Taganito mine operated by Taganito Mining Corp.; the Tagana-an mine operated by Hinatuan Mining Corp.; and, the Cagdianao mine in Dinagat Islands operated by Cagdianao Mining Corp. The Taganito and Tagana-an mines are both in Surigao del Norte.
Saprolite, limonite
THE company has other properties in various stages of exploration for nickel, while continuing to seek opportunities in copper and gold. The company also exports saprolite and limonite ore to customers in Japan and China.
NKL was up 4.35 percent at the stock market after opening at P7.15 closing at P7.44 last February 8.
In its quarterly report last November, NKL said that despite the lower ore sales volume sold during the period, revenues rose by 2 percent owed largely to higher nickel ore prices and favorable exchange rates.
The Group’s operating mines sold a combined 12.44 million wet metric tons (WMT) of nickel ore during the first three quarters of 2022, compared to 14.44 million WMT in the same period last year, NKL said.
“The drop in sales volume was almost directly proportional to unrealized workable days caused by unfavorable weather that adversely affected the Group’s mining operations during the current period.”
The company said its revenues during the first three quarters of 2022 were P21.509 billion, higher by P480 million, or 2 percent, compared to P21.029 billion during the same period last year.
