Interesting little company. Did a series of asset swops to leave them with half of the 4th largest Nickel deposit in the world.
The deposit itself is in the Philippines has been known about for 30 years but due to low prices and lack of demand in the Far East it was never exploited. With the explosion in demand from India and China the nickel price has climbed from $2 to $6.50 but oddly enough is still considered low.
The final approval stage for exploitation is just about to be approved and extraction will begin. The company already has one contract with a Japanese smelter and is in discussions with smelters in a series of countries.
Nothing clever about the operation, as the ore is of sufficiently high grade, they dig it up and ship it out. Infrastrucure is already in place for operation.
TMC is currently priced at 18m, the initial Japanese contract is worth 4m and each additional contract will hopefully be at this level or greater.
Final approval turns the company into a producer and each additional contract simply increases their size.
The management is tight with cash and has some good quality mining skills onboard.
The Philippine government is fast tracking the final approval and the company says it expects it shortly.
One to hold for approval and through the series of RNS's as more contracts are won. Company should be worth 50m in 6 months and 100m in 12-18 months.
Buy it, ignore it, just pointing this one out.

Interesting read and mentions the output of Berong coming on line as a key event of 2007.

http://www.abareconomics.com/interactive/ac_sept06/htm/nickel.htm

You can see the causeway opposite Birong on google earth but I still cant see any ships.

If rumour is correct we are due an ops update this coming week. Cannot see MPSA as yet, however for me any time from early Nov onwards is possible.

Award of MPSA should see a rerating of the SP, as a large element of risk will be gone.

An interesting few months ahead IMO.

From post on TMF by Kimboy :


""""Investika quarterly report on Berong;

http://www.asx.com.au/asx/research/CompanyInfoSearchResults.jsp?searchBy=asxCode&allinfo=on&asxCode=IVK

The trial shipment has been delayed a fortnight due to adverse weather from the typhoons that went nearby. However "This is then expected to be immediately followed by full commercial operations".

It will have to be as they are still sticking to their target of 80-90,000 dmt of ore in 2006. This is of course dependent on being granted permit.

"A project report on planned operations is currently being prepared for approval by the relevant Government agencies. This report is necessary to obtain the 'commercial' MPSA. A commercial MPSA differs from a standard MPSA in that a standard MPSA does not automatically allow commercial operations to commence".

A JORC reserve statement expected next quarter.

Still examining options for value added processing. Samples currently being prepared for shipment to labs.

Looks to me as though shipment will be going out around the 30th October. They then seem confident that they will get the remaining permits pretty much immediately.

Overall while there is a delay on the trial shipment there is further reassurance for the granting of the permit and the timing of commercial shipping. """"

Link to the announcement by IVK in Australia, expect a TMC announcement today (PDF File) :


http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20061025/pdf/3z5gg9mknwrqg.pdf

25 October 2006
Company Announcements
The Australian Stock Exchange Ltd.
Dear Sir
Re: Berong Nickel Project (Investika Ltd 18.7% direct interest)
Berong Nickel Project Granted Priority Mining Development Status
Investika Ltd is pleased to advise that the Berong Nickel Project (BNC) has been granted priority development status, and is now included among the priority mining development projects monitored by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) under the Mining Revitalization Program of the Philippines. Priority projects can expect full support and facilitation on permits and other government documents requiring approvals, as well as speedy action to resolve any impediments to project execution. Priority Project Status was granted to BNC by the MGB Director, Horacio C Ramos.
The Berong Nickel Project is a Joint Venture between Toledo Mining Corporation Plc, Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development Corporation, and Investika Ltd.
As previously reported, the development of the mine site and associated infrastructure is nearing completion as activities focus on the extraction of a bulk metallurgical sample of approximately 30,000 dry metric tons (equivalent to approximately 45,000 wet metric tons) at a grade of approximately 1.7% (includes 10% dilution). To date, approximately 4,000 wet metric tons of ore has been mined and placed on the coastal stockpiles. Shipment to customer(s) is expected around mid November 2006.
Commercial mining operations are expected to commence in November/December and are dependent upon attaining the necessary final approvals from the Philippine Government. An export target of 80,000 to 90,000 dmt of ore has been set for 2006, 620,000 dmt for 2007, and 1M dmt in 2008 and beyond. The grade of laterite ore to be mined in the first year of operations is estimated to average approximately 1.9% nickel. Some shipment grades above 2% nickel can be expected in the early years.
Mr. George Bujtor, CEO of BNC, commented, The full support of The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has enabled the rapid development of the Berong Nickel Project, and the granting of priority project status will help us to maintain our momentum as we build production to 1 million dmt per year.
George Bujtor is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and is the qualified person that has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this announcement.
Yours faithfully
INVESTIKA LTD
J B MAGUIRE
COMPANY SECRETARY

Excellent news today which virtually 'guarantees' that full approval will be issued by the Philippine government soon. At which point the SP will undergo a major re-rating!!!

Morning all.

This looks very exciting for TMC - wish I'd thought to get back in when the SP was under 1!

Tell me, PP, are there any estimates out there for what the anticipated production might be worth to TMC (not forgetting that they have approx a half share)?

Alternatively, have estimates been made of the value minerals in place?

Nickel in place has a value of 80 billion pounds........however its not all recoverable. From there you can see why the award of an MPSA is big news for TMC as they go forward. On a long term basis the present price is peanuts compared to what it could be.

Thanks PP - will try and have a go at this again if I can get some capital freed up.

Interestingly I see that Snowden's are due to produce the JORC next quarter - could make good reading!!

Post from AFN :


Mister X - 30 Oct'06 - 12:58 - 10930 of 10930


Nice announcement from Atlas early this morning:

Atlas Says Nickel Exports May Rise to 1 Million Tons (Update1)
2006-10-29 22:01 (New York)


(Adds share price in fifth paragraph.)

By Luzi Ann Javier
Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Atlas Consolidated Mining &
Development Corp., a Philippine miner, will export as much as
90,000 dry metric tons of nickel this year, and could raise
overseas sales to 1 million tons by 2008.
The ore, extracted from the Berong nickel project on the
island of Palawan, south of Manila, is estimated to contain 1.9
percent nickel, according to company statement issued Oct. 27.
Exports would be between 80,000 and 90,000 tons this year, and
620,000 tons next year, it said. Berong is a joint venture
between Manila-based Atlas, London-based Toledo Mining Corp.,
and Sydney-based Investika Ltd.
Metals companies are scouring the globe to secure supplies
of raw materials to feed rising demand, particularly from China,
the world's fastest growing major economy. The drive comes as
the Philippine government aims to attract $6.5 billion in
investments to help develop the nation's mining industry.
The Lisbon-based International Nickel Study Group forecast
a 10 percent jump in demand for the commodity this year to 1.37
million tons. Three-month nickel futures, which have more than
doubled this year, settled at $31,000 a metric ton on the London
Metal Exchange on Oct. 27.
Shares in Atlas, which earlier rose as much as 1.3 percent
to 8.1 pesos, were unchanged at 8 pesos at 10:54 a.m. in Manila.
The stock has gained 40 percent this year compared with the 29
percent climb in the Philippine Stock Exchange Index.
Atlas, which was the world's third-largest copper producer
from 1979 to 1984, said in September it was targeting exports of
as much as 90,000 dry tons of ore this year, although ``actual
sales will be dependent on weather conditions.''
The company said in February that it was in talks to sell
nickel and cobalt to potential customers in Japan, China,
Australia and Europe.

--Editor: Lloyd-Smith

Story illustration: See {LME } for three-month London Metal
Exchange prices, and {LMEI } for LME warehouse inventories.
For top commodity news, see {CTOP }.

Moving up today

I hear rumour that Chris Kyriakou is supposed to be coming to the UK sometime next week. Lets hope its to make the announcement we've all been waiting for. Just found out its AGM time so that probably answers that.

Big X trades today, and at increases prices. Along with this was some other large trades to make up a sharp increase in volume and a breakout end of day.

Therefore, one can assume we should be looking at good news flow in the coming weeks.

Here is an approximation of resource valuation that TMC is sitting on in Palawan. BERONG 275,000,000 tonnes at 1.5% nickel which is equivalent to 4,125,000 tonnes of pure nickel valued at 35,000 per tonne. This is worth 144,375,000,000 times 56.1% equals 81 Billion approx. IPILAN formerly Celestial 75,000,000 tonnes at 1.5% equal to 1,125,000 tonnes valued at 39,375,000,000 times 52% equals 20.5 Billion approx. They also hold a58% stake in ULUGAN not yet fully quantified. Assuming that the MPSA WORKS OUT AT 50% each, tmc's share would be worth 81 Billion PLUS 20.5 Billion times 50% which is 50.75 Billion. Working on the assumption that 2008's figure of 1 Million tonnes production based on the above figures. 1 Million times 1.5% equals 15,000 tonnes at 35,000 times 56.1% times 50% which equals 147,262,500 income before overheads divided by 27,548,333 ordinary shares in existance equals capital growth of 5.34 per share per annum. Projected operating costs at outset where estimated to be 55.2% before cobalt credits, again no estimate for value of this. Operating costs would then be approx 2.94 per share per year. As to the true value of each share, if you took 10 years turnover you could be looking at 53.40 per share. If you used only 10 years profit you could be looking at 29.40 per share. At these production rates the resource would be productive for 350 years. PLEASE DONT GIVE ME ANY FLACK OVER THE ABOVE FIGURES AS THEY ARE CALCULATIONS BASED ON FACT BUT REFLECT HOW I SEE THE COMPANIES WORTH. I would be intrested to hear any thoughts others may have and I hope this helps soul traders who was asking last week.

Impressive figures Oily!

Very interesting projection! What has been the average price of nickel over the past ten years?

What is your valuation of Central China Goldfields Mr Rag ?

Off the top of my head a lot more than the 12 million market cap current valuation. I havnt done much research on this, but I purchased my first holding in ggg last Thursday as I am expecting some good news soon. The copper mine in Tibet is reputedly worth about 2.1 Billion before costs, that is 600,000 tonnes at 3,500 per tonne. Gold at $630 per ounce, times 1,300.000 ounces estimated in current holdings could be worth 433 Million at current prices, only downside at the moment is that they are not yet actual producers. I think the skies the limit. However that is purely my estimation and offers no guarantee of future growth, you pays your money, you takes your chance. If you were to estimate 50% production costs 2,100,000,000 plus 433,000,000 times 50% equals 1,266,500,000 divided by 82,000,000 shares equals approx 15.44 per share, this would have to be diluted by time as there are no annual production targets known. I hope you find this satisfies your need Mr Noony.

Yes phil thank you very much!