MANILA, Philippines--Mining firm Platinum Group Metals Corp. is set to ship 450,000 metric tons of nickel ore to Australia from its mine sites in Surigao del Norte and Isabela in the third quarter.

In a statement, PGMC said that of the total, 300,000 MT of nickel ore would come from its Cagdianao, Surigao del Norte mine site and 150,000 MT would be shipped by its Isabela mine.

PGMC signed a five-year contract with Queensland Nickel Ltd. (QNI), a subsidiary of BHP Billiton, covering the annual supply of at least 1.2 million MT of nickel ore from its mine sites in Isabela and Surigao.

The supply agreement with QNI is renewable for another five years.

The Isabela mine will start shipments in August.

The Surigao mine site has started its shipments, with the first 50,000 MT made in June.

According to PGMC, this mine site is set to load the second 50,000 MT before the end of this week. It will complete the shipment of the 300,000 MT before the end of the third quarter.

The mine sites of PGMC and its subsidiary, MCCI Corp., obtained fiscal incentives from the Board of Investments (BOI) for its mining and smelting projects.

The incentives granted included an income tax holiday for six years, zero duty on capital equipment importation and tax credits.

Granted an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) in 2007, the Surigao mine has an approved production volume of 1.4 million MT of nickel ore yearly, while the Isabela mine, which was granted an ECC early this year, is allowed to mine 2 million MT yearly.

PGMC's Surigao mine covers a 4,376-hectare land in Surigao del Norte. It is under a 25-year Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) while the Isabela mine's MPSA covers 2,392 hectares.

A Filipino-controlled company, PGMC claimed to be the only integrated mining and ferronickel company in the country with assets worth P3 billion.