DMCI seeks recouping Berong losses this year

Sustaining the strong growth momentum and offsetting the impact of the depletion of its Berong mine are the near-term goals of industry giant DMCI Mining Corp. in operating new mines in Zambales before the year ends.

DMCI Mining president Tulsi Das Reyes said the planned development, to be undertaken by its unit Zambales Chromite Mining Corp., or ZCMC, is expected to initially deliver 20 million metric tons or MT of minerals annually.

"We are operating one mine in Zambales now (the Zambales Diversified Metals Corporation or ZDMC) and we are getting permits for another one, (which is ZCMZ)."

"I strongly believe that we have a very good chance to get this permit before the end of the year," he added.

Permit coming soon

"I'm very confident it will happen within the proper time frame plus minus one month," Reyes said in an interview with reporters over the weekend. Reyes, however, clarified that ZCMC is not a chromite mine but a nickel mine.

"When we bought it from the UK, that was the name and we had not really rebranded or reshaped the company yet because those are the companies we used to apply for the permit. If that is changed, the documentation, conversation, and a little variation would be a lot of work," he explained.

Reyes also conveyed DMCI Mining's intention to operationalize a separate mining site in another province. He did not disclose the location but noted that it can potentially deliver a minimum of 70 million MT of output. DMCI Mining has been boosting its operations to ramp up production and shipments to cater to the growing demand for minerals globally.

Early this year, ZDMC was granted an amended environmental compliance certificate or ECC that allowed the company to raise its annual production to a maximum of 2.7 million dry metric tons, which put the company on track to surpass its 2022 nickel ore production and shipments.

From January to June, production nearly doubled by 98 percent from 567,000 wet metric tons or WMT to 1.12 million WMT, which was way better than its 2022 full-year output of 1.03 million WMT.
Meanwhile, shipments in the first half of this year reached 1.06 million WMT, equivalent to 73 percent of the total sales volume of 1.45 million WMT in 2022.

Reyes attributed the strong performance to improved operational efficiency and permit timing. During the first six months, DMCI Mining recorded a net income of P708 million, a 35-percent drop from P1.09 billion owing to lower selling prices and increased costs from higher shipments, fuel consumption, depreciation, amortization and labor expenses.