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PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Wednesday officially opened a 180-million-dollar, Japanese-Filipino nickel processing facility on the western island of Palawan, Malacañang said.
Coral Bay Nickel Corp. will generate about 1,200 jobs and extend the life of a nearby Palawan nickel mine, Arroyo said in comments at the launch.
The company is a joint venture among Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Mitsui and Co. and Sojitz Corp. of Japan and local outfit Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corp., which operates the mine.
Coral Bay said in a statement that it would generate 100 million dollars worth of foreign exchange annually.
Arroyo said that aside from generating revenue and employment, the metal processing facility was noteworthy because "it will now process the [mine] tailings or waste materials ... as well as cleaning up the environment."
Environment Secretary Mike Defensor, who accompanied Arroyo to the ceremony near the town of Bataraza, said that strict safeguards had been implemented to ensure that the plant would not harm the environment of Palawan which is being marketed worldwide as an eco-tourism attraction.
"This mining project does not conflict with our eco-tourism areas," Defensor said.
Arroyo also said the project highlighted the huge mineral potential of the Philippines following a Supreme Court decision in February opening the local mining industry to foreign companies.
The president remarked that the Philippines had the third largest nickel resources in the world and expressed hope that this would attract more foreign companies, particularly Japanese.
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