Zambales officials give NiHAO units mining permits

MANILA, Philippines - The Province of Zambales has given two subsidiaries of listed NiHAO Mineral Resources International, Inc.’s wholly owned Mina Tierra Gracia, Inc. small-scale mining permits, allowing these to extract 50,000 metric tons of nickel yearly in Botolan, Zambales. In a disclosure to the local stock exchange, NiHAO said the provincial government had approved the permits of Companhia Nube Minerale, Inc. and Companhia Minera Tierra, Inc. in their permitted areas, both in Botolan. The company said Nube Minerale and Minera Tierra had been given two years each to undergo extraction in areas covering a total of 10 hectares — five hectares each for Nube Minerale and Minera Tierra. The two-year period started on June 13, NiHAO said. Based on the permit given by the Provincial Mining Regulatory Board (PMRB) to the two firms, the period is renewable for another five years, but the application should be filed by June 13, 2010. Meanwhile, NiHAO said the board of Mina Tierra had approved a supplemental agreement with Saprolite Mining, Inc. to clarify and affirm the intent of the deed of assignment dated July last year. NiHAO noted that "under the deed of assignment... Saprolite assigned in favor of Mina Tierra all its rights, interests and mining claims of the Botolan mining claim located in the towns of Botolan and Iba in Zambales." The approval of the deed registration, it said, was still pending before the Environment department. Moreover, under the supplemental agreement, "the parties confirmed that Mina Tierra would be the sole, absolute and legitimate owner" of the exploration permit, the upgrade and conversion application and any mineral production sharing deal covering the Botolan claim. — Aizel Joyce A. Catipay, BusinessWorld