PHILIPPINES - Nickel processing first for Intex & MCC8

The Philippines’ first refined nickel processing plant will be built in a partnership between Intex Resources and a branch of China’s Jinchuan group. Intex has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chinese state-owned engineering and construction company MCC8 Group, a strategic partner of China’s largest nickel producer, the Jinchuan group, which is behind the central Mindoro Island project.

Intex chief executive officer John Steen Petersen says, “We are very pleased to see that Mindoro Nickel’s green mining concept has been met with genuine interest from one of Asia’s largest and most prestigious companies in the nonferrous metallurgical industry, a company that has a declared focus on modern environmental solutions.

“MCC8 has a strong financial background and is also a company that has a demonstrated capability for sustainable green solutions in its many recent projects. Intex is looking forward to see Mindoro Nickel developed for the benefit of its many stakeholders, the provinces of Mindoro Island and the Philippine nation.”

The company’s flagship project will mine low-grade lateritic nickel ore and process it into nickel metal in Mindoro, as the first refined nickel-metal plant in the country. The project will avoid using fossil fuels for power, by generating 110 megawatts of carbon-free electrical power from steam generated in its acid plant.

Intex says the low ‘carbon footprint’ of the facility will set new standards for the mining industry while introducing the concept of ‘green mining’.

MCC8 develops and forms consortia that undertake project finance, plant engineering and construction, mine operation and equity investments, as well as being involved in several major projects in Asia and Africa. MCC8 will finance the Mindoro project through a consortium of investors.

“In selecting MCC8 as a strategic partner for development of the Mindoro nickel project, we gave primordial consideration to their demonstrated capability for sustainable green solutions in its many recent projects,” says John Steen Petersen. “Our choice of MCC8 emphasizes that we put maximum priority in environmental soundness and sustainability in our plans for the realization of Mindoro Nickel.”

Intex is already planting a number of trees on the site for both rehabilitation and livelihood purposes, and plans to continue the immediate replanting of mined out areas in order to re-establish forest growth and return land for local use.

www.intexresources.com