PHILIPPINE NICKEL LATERITE: TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF EXPLORATION, PRODUCTION. Ramon A. L. Flores TMM Management Inc.

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1 PHILIPPINE NICKEL LATERITE: TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF EXPLORATION, PRODUCTION Ramon A. L. Flores TMM Management Inc.

2 OVERVIEW NICKEL LATERITE PHILIPPINE GEOLOGY AND NICKEL LATERITE EXPLORATION FOR NICKEL LATERITE PRODUCTION/ MARKETING

3 LATERITE OXIDATION OF IRON-RICH ROCKS (non-nickel) LATERITE Nickel LATERITE (Nickel substitutes for Iron) From Garnierite (nickel-bearing serpentine/ talc) NICKEL LATERITE INGREDIENTS Nickel-bearing rocks (olivine bearing rocks; particularly peridotites) Pronounced Wet and Dry Seasons (leaching and concentration) Geomorphic/Terrain Factors (elevated low relief) Time

4 OLIVINE- RICH ULTRAMAFIC ROCKS (Streckeisen,/IUGS, 1978)

5 Global Ranked Lithologic Prospectivity for Laterites (Berger et al., 2011) Nickel Laterites Serpentinite/ Serpentinized Ultramafics Dunite Harzburgite, Lherzolite, Peridotite Other ophiolitic rocks Non-nickel laterites Metamorphic Rocks Gabbros, Norites Clastics, Carbonates Intrusive Rocks

6 Ni Laterite Deposits of the World (Berger et al., 2011)

7 Contained Ni in Nickel Laterite (Dalvi et al., 2004) >50% of Nickel from Laterite sourced from THREE COUNTRIES NEW CALEDONIA 23% PHILIPPINES 17% INDONESIA 16% AUSTRALIA 13% CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA 11% AFRICA 8% CARRIBEAN 7%

8 PHILIPPINE GEOLOGY ULTRAMAFIC ROCKS Ophiolitic affinity LOCATION Climate Classification at time of weathering >1000mm/ year of precipitation Annual Temperature Average range from 15 to 31 deg Celsius Pronounced wet and dry season GEOMORPHOLOGY/ TERRAIN Plateau + adjoining gentle slopes Elongated Flat Ridges/ Linears + adjoining gentle slopes Eroded Hills from plateaus + adjoining gentle slopes TIME Cretaceous to Early Tertiary most important Leaching of non-nickel related elements and minerals Concentration of nickel related elements and minerals OLIVINE : Ni ~0.02% in fresh rock (Vinogradov, 1956); Ni ore is >1%Ni; Concentration Factor >50 x

9 IDEALIZED SECTION

10 TECTONO STRATIGRAPHIC GROUPS WITH OPHIOLITIC ROCKS

11 Climate Types of the Philippines (after PAGASA, 2011)

12 VEGETATION ANOMALY

13 NICKEL LATERITE CHARACTERISTICS BLANKET TYPE DEPOSIT Relatively thin, but extensive near-surface residual deposit length or width: thickness >100:1 SPECIFIC VEGETATION arising from thin, nutrient-deficient (N, P, K, S) ultramafic soils HIGHLY VARIABLE NICKEL DISTRIBUTION Horizontally varying and with distinct Vertical Zonation

14 VERTICAL ZONATION OF ELEMENTS AND MINERALS IN EACH MATRIX TYPE DOWN THE PROFILE OVERBURDEN LIMONITE EARTHY SAPROLITE ROCKY SAPROLITE BEDROCK

15 LOW ELEVATED RELIEF (after MRL, 2009)

16 EXPLORATION FOR NICKEL LATERITE: SAMPLING TEST PITTING Manual, less safe, slow Up to manual refusal Shallow, obstructed by boulders DRILLING Wet Material High Recovery Important Shallower than other drilling targets Hundreds to thousands of drillholes AUGERING Shallow, obstructed by boulders Discontinuous, incomplete, low volume sample Sample Contamination TRENCHING Not common, environmentally high impact Limited Extent extent limited

17 NUMEROUS HOLES (TEST PITS/ DRILLHOLES) from 100x100m up to 25x25m apart

18 EXPLORATION FOR NICKEL LATERITE: SURVEYING Global SRTM Digital Terrain Model (90m spatial resolution; satellite; canopy) 1:50,000 scale NAMRIA Topographic Maps (20m vertical resolution; aerial photographs; canopy; xy error variable >10m) TAPE and COMPASS survey (<1 to 10m XYZ resolution; relative; open; hindered by vegetation; cumulative errors may propagate to >=100m ) GPS Measurement (<30m XYZ resolution; DGPS <1m resolution; acquisition time hindered by canopy) PLANE SURVEYING METHODS (<0.01m resolution using Theodolite; EDM/Total Station; hindered by vegetation)

19 UNIVERSAL TRANSVERSE MERCATOR Ellipsoid: m equatorial radius m polar radius

20 UTM and PTM ZONES

21 Sample Spacing, Relief, and Volumetric Accuracy

22 ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE SURVEYING Philippine Nickel Laterite Mines and Prospects are designed to produce ore for shipping Need to harmonize onshore and offshore elevations/depth Onshore: UTM ; Clarke 1866 Spheroid; Luzon and Non-Luzon Datums (MSL); PRS92/ PTM Zones Offshore: Bathymetric data, (MLLW) datum

23 HORIZONTAL DATUMS: ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE?

24 MODELLING OF SURFACES Topographic Surface Bottom of Limonite/Top of Earthy Saprolite Bottom of Earthy Saprolite/Top of Rocky Saprolite Bottom of Rocky Saprolite/ Top of Bedrock USE OF Ground Penetrating Radar; Seismic Methods

25 SURFACES AND THE RESOURCE ENVELOPE

26 DENSITY/ S.G. METHODS IN SITU BULK DENSITY METHODS (includes rock fragments; considers moisture and voids) ASTM Volumetric Bulk Density SPECIFIC GRAVITY METHODS (includes some fragments intersected by drillhole diameter; moisture and voids affect volume and weight due to buouyancy) Immersion of sample in wax, includes buoyancy effects of voids, wax; small sample volume) PULP DENSITY METHOD Does not consider original voids/ porosity, moisture content/ water absorption, packing/ in-situ volumes

27 DENSITY/ S.G. METHODS ASTM BULK IN SITU DENSITY NON-BULK, NON-IN SITU WAX IMMERSED LATERITE DRILLCORE NON-BULK, NON-INSITU PULP DENSITY

28 GRADE ESTIMATION METHODS Geometric Methods Irregular, few data points Nearest Neighbor Method Polygonal Methods Sectional Methods Triangulation Methods Inverse Distance Methods Geostatistical Methods Regular, numerous data Points

29 COMMON ESTIMATION METHODS

30 MARKET SPECIFICATIONS HIGH IRON: Ni <1%; Fe >45%; moisture <=35% MIDDLE GRADE Ni Ore: Ni >=1.5%; (P <= 0.01%) moisture <=35% HIGH Ni Ore: Ni >1.8%; (P<=0.01%) moisture <=35%

31 GRADE/ MATRIX MATCHED STOCKPILES LOW IRON/ SAPROLITIC MS LS OS HS SS ML LL OL HL HIGH IRON/ LIMONITIC SL

32 PRODUCTION AND SHIPMENT Ore must be classified as to low, medium, high Ni grade and whether low or high Fe grade prior to mining and hauling/transport Ore must be aggregated/ reclassed, scalped/ crushed to avoid oversize fragments which incur penalties Ore must be segregated into final grade and matrixmatched stockpiles to enable fine blending These ore stockpiles need to be sun and air-dried and protected from rain During shipment, there must be timely, accurate and precise assays and moisture determinations for proper blending

33 EXCAVATION OF MINING BLOCKS ORE HAULING TO RECLASSIFICATION PILE AGGREGATION, SIZING, INITIAL DRYING IN RECLASSIFICATION PILE DRYING IN FINAL COASTAL STOCKPILE

34 DRYING (SUN AND WIND) ORE MOISTURE >40% moisture as mined >25% moisture after atmospheric drying ORIENTATION OF STOCKPILES Maximize insolation Parallel to dominant wind directions SW Monsoon NE Monsoon Easterly Wave/ Trade Winds

35 COASTAL STOCKPILE LOADING FOR SHIPMENT ORE LOADING TO BARGES BARGE TO VESSEL LOADING VESSEL SAILS TO DISCHARGE PORT

36 COMMERCIAL TERMS PAYMENT IN DRY METRIC TONNES Moisture as low as possible to maximize revenue Moisture ceiling must not be exceeded for safety reasons PAYMENT IN NICKEL CONTENT Use Rapid, Accurate, Precise, Multielement, Total Methods e.g., EDXRF/ WDXRF

37 XRF: Na to U

38 POLARIZED EDXRF Simultaneous Multielement Analysis, Total/ Accurate (no volatilization, no partial extraction, minimal interference, no emissions, no effluents, safe, precise), low detection limit <=0.01% LOW ENERGY XRAYS POLARIZED SIGNAL TOTAL ENERGY SPECTRUM RESPONSE LOW DETECTION LIMIT ELEMENT- SPECIFIC TARGET SIMULTANEOUS MULTIELEMENT ANALYSIS

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40 NICKEL LATERITE OUTLOOK The world continues to industrialize and have continual demand for Nickel for stainless steel, corrosion-resistant alloys, coatings, batteries, magnets, catalysts, and other uses Indonesia now has cut back Nickel Laterite Direct Shipping Ore Operations (DSO) Buyers now have increased demand for Philippine Nickel esp. DSO Ore Philippines has new value-added technologies for Ni processing (e.g., HPAL, Heap/ Atmospheric Leaching)

41 THE PHILIPPINES WAS THE 2 nd LARGEST Ni PRODUCER IN 2011 (USGS, 2011) Ni Metal Produced in Tonnes

42 THE PHILIPPINES IS #12 out of 15 IN TERMS OF NICKEL RESERVES (USGS, 2011)

43 PHILIPPINE Ni DEPOSITS MINE LIFE* IS THE SHORTEST AMONG 15 COUNTRIES (*Reserves : 2011 Production Ratio; after USGS, 2011)

44 PHILIPPINES IS 4 th HIGHEST TAX and ROYALTY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD FOR MINING (SMI, 2012) 1. ARGENTINA 2. PERU 3. CHILE 4. PHILIPPINES 5. AUSTRALIA 6. PAPUA NEW GUINEA 7. INDONESIA

45 SIGNIFICANCE The Philippines has lots of RESOURCES that need to be upgraded into RESERVES More discoveries through effective Exploration More efficient Mine Development, lower production costs (mining, hauling/ transport, assaying, barging) Philippine Ni Mines must lower economic cutoff grade of their deposits By in-country Value-Added Processing/ Smelting of lower grade ores More favorable investment/ commercial conditions Hedge Production / Long-Term contracts