Nickel Asia Corporation (NAC), who is the Philippines’ largest producer of lateritic nickel ore and one of the largest in the world have bought a total of 33.05 million common shares of Coral Bay Nickel Corp. (CBNC) for $25.93 million (P1.530 Billion) in an announcement last April 3, 2022. Coral Bay Nickel Corp. is also one of the world’s largest producer of Nickel and Cobalt Mixed Sulfide.
Nickel Asia Corporation and Coral Bay Nickel Corp. are companies listed in the Philippine stock market and have substantial mining operations in Bataraza, Southern Palawan. Both companies have advocated for responsible mining and incorporated social responsibility among its goals.
Nickel Asia buy the shares from Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. (SMM), which is the majority stockholder of CBNC which operates the Coral Bay high-pressure acid leach or HPAL processing plant in Bataraza, Palawan which processes metals from lateritic nickel ore.
In a disclosure Nickel Asia said, “this investment by the company was made in furtherance of its commitments toward sustainability, environmental protection and renewable energy, since the processing of lateritic nickel ores by the CNBC plant allows the utilization of cobalt and nickel derived from such ores for manufacturing electric vehicle batteries.”
It added that the sale and purchase transaction also strengthens the long-standing partnership between the company and SMM.
Nickel Asia’s equity ownership in CBNC increased to 15.625% from 10% after the share purchase.
Driven by higher nickel ore prices and favorable exchange rates and demand for electric vehicle batteries, Nickel Asia’s attributable net income went from 40.3% to P3.83 billion from P2.73 billion in the first half of 2022.
