DINAGAT ISLANDS—The Cagdianao Mining Corp. (CMC) is stepping up operations for 12 more shipments of nickel ore to China by the second week of November.
So far, the company had completed 25 shipments—all to China. The loading of the 26th and 27th shipments unto the barge is ongoing, Noah S. Balonzo, mine-production supervisor of CMC, told the BusinessMirror.
A wholly owned subsidiary of Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC), CMC is one of three nickel-mining companies that continue to operate in Dinagat Islands, following former Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez’s crackdown against irresponsible mining.
There used to be 12 minings operations in Dinagat Islands, one of the country’s mineral-reservation areas.
Each shipment of nickel ore means export of 55,000 wet metric tons (MT). Nickel currently costs around $20 to $30 per wet MT in the world market for 1.45-percent nickel.
Currently, there are three active mines within CMC where nickel ores are being excavated. These are Pits 1, 3 and 5, which covers a total of 30.94 hectares.
A total of 300 workers are working in three shifts to complete this year’s target of 39 shipments.
“Under our ore-transport and ore-export permits, we are allowed to ship out 52,000 wet metric tons of nickel ore, plus or minus 10 percent,” Balonzo said.
NAC acquired CMC in 1999. Under the new management, CMC started commercial production and made its first shipment of nickel ores in 2001.
Balonzo said the nickel deposit in the CMC’s nickel mine in the area is sufficient to sustain operation in the next 20 years. The CMC’s Mineral Production Sharing Agreement in Dinagat Islands covers a total of 697.05 hectares. Of these, a total of 268.21 represents the “disturbed area”.
Around 60 percent of the mined-out area covering 70 of the 150 hectares undergoing progressive rehabilitation have been completely reforested or planted with native and fruit-bearing trees. Around 12.2 hectares more are undergoing rehabilitation.
The company’s mine facilities include a stock yard, waste dump, settling ponds, mine-haulage roads and CMC structures or buildings, including guest houses and offices.
Around 428.84 hectares of the company’s mining tenement remain undisturbed and maintained with lush forest vegetation, of which 394 hectares are natural or virgin forest.
The company boasts of implementing progressive rehabilitation of mined-out areas and produces its own planting materials—native and fruit-bearing trees—at a tree nursery located within the CMC compound for reforestation activities.
Torrential rains are expected in the next few months, particularly in December until March, before the summer season.
After its last shipment in November, operations will focus on mine rehabilitation through massive tree-planting activities in mined-out areas.
During the wet season, mining operations slowly shift to reforestation activities.
An island-province, Dinagat Island is host to a diverse species of plant and animal wildlife. A new species of tarsier was recently discovered by scientists in Dinagat Islands.
Lopez, an environmental advocate, had earlier announced plans to make Dinagat a prime tourist destination.