Global Ferronickel renews mining deal with gov’t
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has renewed its mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA) with mining firm Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc.
In a disclosure on Wednesday, Global Ferronickel said the renewed MPSA covering its Ipilan Nickel Project in Palawan province would be valid until Sept. 18, 2043.
“The renewal remains subject to the existing terms of the MPSA, as well as all applicable laws, rules, and regulations currently in force or hereafter promulgated,” it added.
Under the MPSA, the contract holder is granted the right to mine minerals within a contract area. The government still owns the minerals, while the contractor provides the financing, technology, management and personnel for the project.
Global Ferronickel operates the Ipilan Nickel Project through a subsidiary, which holds the exclusive right to conduct mining operations in Brooke’s Point town spanning 2,835 hectares. Of these, 260 hectares have been partially declared as a mining area.
Global Ferronickel president Dante Bravo said the listed company was seeking expedited approval of its application to amend the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) for Ipilan.
If approved, the amended ECC would expand the mining project’s production to 3 million wet metric tons (WMT) annually from the current 1.5 million WMT.
The company said production expansion would translate to higher royalty shares for the indigenous peoples, barangays and increase tax revenues for the government.
