European Nickel Plc has said that it will pay $48 million in cash and shares for interests in nickel projects in the Philippines. The company will acquire a 19.3% stake in Toledo Mining Corp. and an 18.7% direct interest in Berong Nickel Corp., London-based European Nickel said yesterday in a statement. European Nickel will have an effective 29.5% stake in Berong since Toledo owns a 56% interest in Berong.
Atlas Mining Corp., a major copper mining company owned by businessman Alfredo Ramos, holds an interest in both Toledo and Berong. Philex Mining Inc., a major gold mining company, also partly owns Berong.
European Nickel said it acquired the 19.3% interest in Toledo from Investika Ltd., Chris Kyriakou, chairman of Investika and Toledo Mining, and Murray Morgan Investments Ltd. It also bought from Investika the 18.7% direct interest in Berong Nickel.
Shares in European Nickel rose to their highest level in almost three months in London trading after agreeing to buy stakes in the Philippine nickel projects.
The Berong project, operated by Toledo, ships so-called laterite nickel ore from the Philippines to BHP’s Yabulu plant in Australia and to Chinese buyers, who refine it into nickel used for stainless steel. Berong Nickel owns two other deposits and interests in the Ipilan and Ulugan projects.
Toledo, led by former Rio Tinto Group executive George Bujtor, estimates the deposits contain 375 million metric tons of ore with a nickel content of 4.9 million tons.
European Nickel has a joint venture with Rusina Mining NL to ship ore from the Acoje deposit in the Philippines to China and is waiting for a permit to complete its Caldag nickel project in Turkey. The Caldag project has a mineable reserve of 33.2 million tons with a grade of 1.13 percent nickel containing over 255,000 tons of recoverable nickel. The company’s projects in the Philippines and Albania are at the pre-feasibility study stage.
The company also holds exploration properties in Turkey, Serbia and Albania, and has an active exploration program to identify further properties in the Balkan region.
Source: Manila Standard
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