Benguet Corp.'s subsidiary to supply Chinese firm with nickel

A subsidiary of listed miner Benguet Corp. is set to supply a Chinese firm with nickel over the next three years. In a statement to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, Benguet Corp. said its project company for nickel operation Benguetcorp Nickel Mines Inc. (BNMI) signed an off-take agreement with Bright Mining & Resource Co. Ltd., "a major Chinese trading company", for the sale and delivery of 1.8-million metric tons of nickel ore grading 1.8-percent over the next three years. BNMI is the operator of a nickel laterite mine in Sta. Cruz, Zambales. For the year's first half, Benguet Corp. announced that it reversed its losses and posted earnings of P580 million as a result of “increased production output in nickel and gold operations, higher world metal prices, as well as, by the non-cash gain resulting from the continuing discounted settlement of the company's obligations." --CMA/OMG, GMA News