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ATLAS NICKEL PROJECTS: BERONG AND ULUGAN
| Atlas has substantial nickel interests located in the mid-western part of Palawan Island consisting of the Berong Nickel Project which includes Moorsom, Long Point and Tagkawayan properties, and also the Ulugan Nickel Project located about 75 kilometers to the northeast near Tagkawayan as shown in the map. These projects are held, respectively, by two special purpose corporations, namely: |
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Berong Nickel Corporation (BNC) in which Atlas has an indirect interest of 25.2%, and |
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Ulugan Nickel Corporation (UNC) in which Atlas owns 42% in economic interest. |
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| OVERVIEW OF NICKEL PROJECTS | |
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Berong Nickel Project |
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Exploration by 300-meter interval test pits in Berong, Morsoom, Long Point and Tagkawayan nickel deposits was completed in 1972. The combined tonnage and grade of the resources, at a cut-off grade of 0.9% Ni for both the laterite (limonite) and saprolite, was estimated at 275 million dry metric tons (DMT) with an average grade of 1.30% Ni. In addition, the 25-meter interval pitting was concentrated inside the 288-hectare area in Berong where mining was supposed to start in 1973, that is now the initial mining area of Berong Nickel Corporation (BNC). The nickel resource in the 288-hectare area, which is only a small part of the 1,350 hectares of nickel deposit in Berong, was resampled and then re-evaluated according to the internationally accepted standards of the Joint Ore Reserve Committee of Australasia (JORC) by Snowden, an international consultant on mineral resources and ore reserves estimation. Its scoping report in April 2006 stated that “Snowden has accepted the use of Atlas nickel assay results for resource estimation purposes where re-sampling has not been possible. Specifically, the observed biases are not large and would result in conservative estimates where re-sampling data is not available.” This means that the nickel resource in Berong is actually better and larger than previously known. The Snowden estimated resources – Measured, Indicated and Inferred – based on cut-off grades of 0.0% Ni and 1.0% Ni, respectively, are summarized in the following Table. They were officially reported in June 2007. |
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Cut-off Grade
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Resource Estimated
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Million Metric Tons
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Grade % Ni
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Grade % Co
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0.0% Ni
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Measured
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6.07
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1.42%
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0.09%
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Indicated
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5.66
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1.32%
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0.10%
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Inferred
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2.52
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0.75%
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0.05%
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Total
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14.25
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1.26%
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0.09%
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1.0% Ni
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Measured
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4.84
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1.58%
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0.10%
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Indicated
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4.07
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1.53%
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0.10%
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Inferred
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1.01
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1.50%
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0.09%
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Total
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9.92
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1.55%
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0.10%
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So far, the reported JORC compliant resource constitutes only a small fraction of the aforementioned total nickel resource reported in 1972. |
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Ulugan Nickel Project |
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In 2004, preliminary exploration was initiated in Ulugan Area where 10 test pits with depths varying from two to nine meters were strategically located. The analysis results of the laterite and saprolite samples ranged from 0.66% to 2.91% Ni content. To date, no extensive exploration has been undertaken in Ulugan. |
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Berong - View from orebody overlooking
the proposed stockpile area and ship loading pier |
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Palawan Nickel Laterite Project Map
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