Posted on 29 Jun 2022
Chinese investor Shenzhou Mining and local Philippine company Mount Zynai 0304 Mining Corp.(MZMC) are jointly developing an iron ore and steel mill project at Mount Zynai Industrial Park (MZIP) in Davao City, Zamboanga Sibugay Province.
The project, which is said to cost $1 billion and includes an ore smelter and a steel mill, broke ground last week, Kallanish learns from a local newsletter. It is expected that the steelmaking capacity will be 1.5 million tonnes/year after 3-4 years of construction. The main products of the mill will be rebar and wire rod, 60% of which will be used for domestic construction and 40% of could be exported after the plant is put into operation.
Leonardo Fernandez, chairman of MZMC, introduced that it would be the first ore-to-steel project in the Philippines. "Currently, what we do is we send the ore materials to China and then buy them like a steel product. Once the smelting plant is finished, the country will no longer transport the ore materials since it can be done in the Philippines," Fernandez said. This will help to reduce construction costs in the Philippines, as MZMC will be priced below the prevailing market price as its raw materials and products are locally produced, the company hopes.
The ore to be processed is from a mining site in the neighboring province of Zamboanga del Sur. The mining site covers a 15,000-hectare property owned by the Subanen Pigsalabukan Gokom de Bayog indigenous community. MZMC signed an agreement with Subanen in February 2022 to develop local mining and shipped some mining facilities from China in March.
Shenzhou Mining is owned by Fujian Chinese businessman Lin Weizhao, and operated a nickel mine in Surigao del Norte 10 years ago. It was suspended in 2012 for environmental pollution and failure to pay royalties to Claver Mineral Development Corporation. Shenzhou Mining owns 40% of the joint project, and it has also formed another JV with MZMC to study the production and sale of steel bars.
Source:Kallanish
