Toledo Mining Put The Final Piece in Place in a Deal to Develop The Berong Nickel Venture

Toledo Mining has put the final piece in place in a deal to develop the Berong nickel venture in the Philippines.

Toledo has sold its 31% stake in Nickeline Resources and bought 18.7% of Berong Nickel Corporation of which Nickeline owns 60%.

The company has offloaded its shareholding in Nickeline to DMCI Mining, which, along with Toledo and ENK, which has sold its stake in BNC to Toledo, have agreed the closings.

Toledo's overall interest in BNC remains largely unchanged but it now has a greater direct interest, giving it more seats on BNC's board.

It comes as the company released interim results for the six months ending September in line with expectations.

Toledo made a pre tax profit of GBP 232,000 after a loss of GBP 320,000 in the same period last year after BNC generated healthy profits thanks to an extended shipping window, which allowed more ore to be sold and slightly better nickel payability than expected.

Mr Victor Kolesnikov chief executive of Toledo said that "These results reflect your company's continued investment in our projects and the strength of our local management team in the Philippines, as BNC returned a healthy net profit despite challenging market conditions and a constrained operating environment. I believe that Toledo is stronger now in our shareholder base, in the composition of its board of directors, with our strategic partners and throughout our operations in the Philippines, and we can look ahead to driving the company forward in 2013 to unlock further value for shareholders as we expand and develop our nickel business."