Philippine Corporate Update
posted on
Dec 02, 2008 12:37PM
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December 2, 2008 |
MBMI Resources: Corporate Update |
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Dec. 2, 2008) - MBMI RESOURCES INC. ("MBMI" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:MBR) reports on progress with respect to the Company's Philippine mineral project interests. Alpha Project The Company's Philippine partners have segregated a minimal inventory of nickel material to enable the sales of a range of qualities to meet the requirements of various consumers. The ability to satisfy consumer demand for a wide spectrum of quantity and quality of nickel material allows the Company to market to a diverse buyer group which could potentially include consumers from Australia, India, Korea, as well as Japan and China. Japanese demand for raw nickel material has remained steady, while the Chinese demand has slowly returned after a sluggish few months. Management believes that the stabilization of Nickel prices will also encourage Chinese consumption as their transactions are executed on a fixed pricing basis. Indonesia has recently announced that the export of direct shipping nickel products will be curtailed and/or suspended, and this could potentially reduce the range of product that competes with MBMI's Philippine partners' materials. The Company has engaged a geological engineering firm to finalize an independent National Instrument 43-101 technical report for the property. The details of this report will provide an initial estimate of mineral resources contained within the small-scale permitted area which covers approximately 60 hectares of the 3,277 hectare property. Progress of Palawan Permits The full-scale mine permit applications relating to the Alpha project and three other Palawan nickel properties continue to advance through the government approval process. All environmental permits have now been approved at the provincial level and have been submitted to the Philippine Department of Environment and Resources. Recent approval by the Philippine government on other full-scale mine submissions is encouraging, and the Company's partners are pleased with the feedback received to date from the various government agencies overseeing the application process. The Company notes that a recent Philippine newspaper article reported a provincial government mining resolution asserting a moratorium on the issuance of mining operating permits in Palawan. The same article also reports that mining bans are contrary to national law and considered a contrary rule to the Philippine Mining Act, which had been affirmed in 2004 by the Supreme Court as constitutional. The Company and its Philippine partners are of the opinion that the resolution should have no immediate bearing on its Palawan activities. The resolution is currently being reviewed by the Company's legal staff and discussed with government officials. Dinagat Island Project Development of the Dinagat Island nickel/chrome project is a key objective of the Company and the evaluation of exploration data and near-term development potential is in process. The property is located within a government designated mineral reservation area, holds a full-scale mining permit, and is in the final stage of an approval process for all other required environmental permits. Corporate Profile MBMI Resources Inc. is a Canadian-based mining company focused on the exploration and development of nickel mineral properties in the Philippines. MBMI and its Philippine partners have an interest in nine nickel laterite projects in the Philippines, covering an area greater than 22,000 hectares. MBMI's objective is to become a major supplier of high-grade nickel products to primary industrial consumers in Asia. Mr. John F. Cook, (P.Eng) is the designated Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, and has reviewed and approved the news release. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Michael T. Mason, President and Director |