Sumitomo to put up $1B nickel smelting plant in RP

Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. announced on Thursday that it is looking into putting up a nickel smelting plant worth $1 billion in Taganito, in the northeastern sector of Mindanao Island with Taganito Mining Corp. In a statement posted at the website of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the company said Sumitomo Metal has signed an agreement for a joint feasibility study with Taganito Mining. "The Taganito Project is planned as large-scale smelting project... If the results of the feasibility study prove favorable, SMM and TMC will establish a joint-venture company in 2008 and construct an high-pressure acid leaching plant on property adjacent to the Taganito Mine... The project's total investment outlay is estimated to exceed $1 billion," the company said in its statement. The firm said plant operations are expected to start in 2012 and continue over a period of roughly 30 years.-Cheryl Arcibal, GMANews.TV