DENR lifts suspension on nickel-miner Zambales Diversified

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has lifted the suspension of nickel-miner Zambales Diversified Metals Corp., DMCI Holdings Inc. said in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

Zambales Diversified Metals is a subsidiary of DMCI Mining Corp., which is owned by DMCI Holdings.

DMCI Mining’s two nickel subsidiaries, Zambales Diversified and Berong Nickel Corp., were among several Philippine ore producers suspended or shut following a series of government-initiated audits on the industry’s compliance with environmental regulations.

The DENR lifted the suspension of Berong in November last year.

The Berong and Zambales mines, two of more than 30 nickel-ore producers in the Philippines, in recent years accounted for less than 5% of the nation’s output of the material, which is used in stainless steel and electric vehicle batteries.

Top nickel ore buyer China is expected to rely on the Philippines, the world’s second-largest ore producer in 2018, for supply that will replace ore shipments from last year’s top producer Indonesia, which is due to ban its ore exports in 2020. —Reuters