Tests on planned nickel plant in Agusan yield promising results

The prospects of a nickel processing operation in Agusan del Norte are promising as tests conducted at a laboratory in China and on site in the province was a success, according to TVI Resource Development Inc. (TVIRD).

“Pilot plant testing by the Beijing General Research Institute of Mining & Metallurgy facility in China and at [a] pilot plant in the Philippines has proven successful,” said TVIRD, operator of Agata Processing Inc., a joint venture with Mindoro Resources Ltd.

The pilot plant test is part of TVIRD’s efforts to complete a definitive feasibility study on a nickel processing plant at Agata. The study is expected to wrap up within this year.

TVIRD’s parent firm, Canada-based TVI Pacific Inc., earlier said the latter was another step closer to listing on the Philippine Stock Exchange, with the Agata mine having shipped out its second cargo of high-iron, low nickel ore.

Agata Mining Ventures Inc. (AMVI), also a joint venture between TVIRD and Mindoro, sent out on Nov. 10 a total of 55,499 wet metric tons of limonite ore that contained 0.84 percent nickel and 49 percent iron to Tewoo Hoperay Singapore Pte. Ltd. The shipment is worth about $916,000.

The planned processing plant and the direct shipping of ores are being developed on the basis of a resource estimate that pegs Agata’s mineral resource at 33.9 million dry metric tons of material at 1.1-percent nickel.

The estimate shows that at a cut-off grade of 44-percent iron, Agata has an estimated 7 million dry metric tons of material with 48.5-percent iron and 0.94-percent nickel.

In 2012, Mindoro entered into a joint venture agreement with TVI to undertake a two-stage development strategy for Agata.

The first stage involves the direct shipment of ores to a buyer or buyers while the second involves the processing of ores on site.

A feasibility study on Agata that was completed in August 2013 suggested “a high internal rate of return (IRR) of 187 percent, a payback within the first year of operation and a post-tax net present value of $37.9 million.”