Japan-based Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. (SMM or Sumitomo), Japanese trading conglomerate Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (Mitsui) and Philippines-based nickel miner Nickel Asia Corporation (NAC) have reached a stakeholder agreement on September 15 under which Mitsui and NAC will participate in the Taganito nickel project currently being promoted by SMM in the Philippines.
The project, which calls for a total investment outlay of US$1.3 billion, is being executed by Taganito HPAL Nickel Corporation, a wholly-owned SMM subsidiary based in Manila.
According to a SMM statement, NAC and Mitsui will join SMM by investing in THPAL and, once the investment by all parties is completed, the final shareholding ratios will be SMM - 62.5 percent, NAC - 22.5 percent percent and Mitsui - 15 percent. SMM decided to proceed with the Taganito project in September 2009, and agreed with NAC on joint implementation of the project.
A low-grade oxide ore processing plant adjacent to the Taganito mine will be operated by the Philippines' Taganito Mining Corporation, a NAC subsidiary. The plant will apply high-pressure acid leaching (HPAL) technology to produce 30,000 mt per year of nickel/cobalt mixed sulfide with 57 percent nickel content, an intermediate product of nickel processing.
SMM has already established mass-production of nickel/cobalt mixed sulfide based on HPAL technology under Coral Bay Nickel Corporation, an affiliate company located in Rio Tuba, Palawan, the Philippines and started production in 2005.
The Taganito project is a follow-up initiative aimed at securing further nickel resources in collaboration with Mitsui and NAC, the company said. When the Taganito operation is onstream in 2013, SMM will achieve a comprehensive capacity to produce 100,000 mt of nickel per year putting itself in position to become a major player in non-ferrous metals.