In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) yesterday, APC corporate secretary Edmundo Tan said the area is situated in the Municipality of Narra in Central Palawan which is known to contain nickel and chromite deposits.

Tan said a nearby area explored by Atlas Mining has probable reserves of 92 million metric tons of laterite and 95 million metric of saprolite with cut-off grades of 0.9 percent and 1.37 percent nickel, respectively.

Earlier, APC Mining has filed for four exploration permits in the provinces of Zambales, Misamis Oriental and Palawan bringing the aggregate area applied for 17,014 hectares basically containing chromite and nickel.

For all these areas applied for, APC Mining will conduct exploration activities and will apply for a Mineral Production Sharing Agreement with the DENR once the exploration works proved the presence of mineable deposits at commercial quantities.

Tan said the earlier application covers an area situated in Barangay Apurawan in the Municipality of Aborlan. The area is also known to contain nickel and chromite deposits.

Another application covers an area situated in the northern Zambales, a known chromite district and is estimated to host about 4 million metric tons of the ore (MGB, 2004).

Tan said the ultramatics of Zambales is also host to other metallic minerals such as nickel, cobalt and likely platinum group metals.

The APC area is adjacent to the old Acoje Mines which produced metallurgical chromite up to the late 1990s. Nearby also are the nickel prospect of Benguet Corp. and again, Acoje Mines. Nickel ore from these prospects grade from 0.5 to 1.7 percent nickel. (JAL)