Philippines' top high-grade nickel ore miner set to shut down -govt official

By Enrico Dela Cruz
MANILA, Aug 16 (Reuters) - The Philippines' top exporter of
high-grade nickel ore is expected to shut its mining operations
soon as ore deposits at a project in the nation's southernmost
province of Tawi-Tawi are nearly depleted, a ministry official
told Reuters.
SR Languyan Mining Corp will shut "most likely" later this
year, said Jaynul Ali Sambarani, head of mines and geoscience
services at the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources
for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.
The closure will likely reduce the Philippines' monthly
exports of nickel ore to top metals consumer China by 300,000 to
400,000 tonnes, based on estimates by the Mines and Geosciences
Bureau (MGB).
"It's a major supplier of high-grade ores," MGB Director
Wilfredo Moncano told Reuters on Friday.
SR Languyan is not among the large-scale nickel miners under
MGB's jurisdiction, and Moncano could not confirm or deny the
shutdown.
The mid-sized miner is one of more than two dozen nickel ore
producers in the Philippines, China's second-biggest supplier of
nickel ores, which are mostly used in producing stainless steel
and for battery materials.
"(SR Languyan's) mine life is about to end," Sambarani said
in a phone interview. "But it is looking at other prospects near
the area."
A shutdown of SR Languyan would come as the global nickel
market is already facing a shortage and the possibility that a
ban on exports of Indonesian nickel ore may be imposed sooner
than scheduled. Supply concerns pushed nickel prices to 16-month
highs last week. MET/L
Top nickel ore supplier Indonesia is currently drafting a
revision to its mineral ore export rules, with the possibility
of moving forward a ban on exports of unprocessed mineral ores
that is due to be implemented from 2022.
Sambarani could not provide details about SR Languyan's
latest 2019 output, exports and stockpiles, and company
officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
Records from the Philippine Securities and Exchange
Commision show that SR Languyan was granted a mining permit in
2010 that covers 3,483 hectares (8,606 acres).
The latest available industry data showed Tawi-Tawi was the
country's biggest exporter of high-grade nickel ore to China,
with shipments in the first half of 2018 reaching 2.34 million
wet metric tonnes, or 88% of total exports of the high-grade
material for that period.
In 2017, SR Languyan began exporting high-grade ores to
China, with an initial volume of 3.32 million tonnes.