BHP Billiton, Asiaticus To Meet On Stalled Nickel Project-Official
September 16 2009 - 6:24AM
Dow Jones News
Discussions between BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) and its local
partner to resolve differences over a nickel project in southern
Philippines are now moving forward, a senior mining official said
Wednesday.
BHP and Asiaticus Management Corp. are scheduled to meet in
Singapore next week, without the presence of a government
representative, possibly to work out a resolution to their dispute
over the stalled mining project, said Horacio Ramos, director of
the Philippines' Mines and Geosciences Bureau.
"That's a good sign that they are now talking with each other
even without a government representative," Ramos told reporters,
noting the two parties have previously refused to engage each other
in a discussion without Environment Secretary Jose Atienza, who has
been brokering a resolution of their conflict.
Ramos is hopeful the negotiations will lead to a compromise.
BHP and Asiaticus have been at loggerheads over development
plans for a mine in the Pujada peninsula, where ore reserves have
been estimated at 150 million metric tons at 1.3% nickel.
An international arbitration panel issued a ruling in January
this year that effectively gave BHP authority to manage the
project. The ruling, however, has yet to be implemented.
The two companies' conflict stems from Asiaticus' desire to
proceed with the project without BHP. It says the Australian miner
has been too slow in developing the project and has failed to
deliver on its investment promises.
In 2007, the Philippine government announced BHP would invest up
to $2 billion in the country, including the construction of a
nickel processing plant. Nickel prices, however, have fallen
sharply since then.
-By Rhea Sandique-Carlos and Cris Larano, Dow Jones Newswires;
632-848-5051; cris.larano@dowjones.com