Dominican Republic halts ‘illegal’ nickel ore shipment

Santo Domingo – Energy and Mines minister Antonio Isa on Mondaysaid miner Falconbridge Dominicana (Falcondo)was prevented from "illegally taking out " a load of the ore ferronickelvia Haina port.

In a statement, Isa said Mines, Port Security and Customs officialskept the load distributed in four containers from leaving the country.

He said the decision was taken because Falconbridge’s newowner, American Nickel Limited, has yet to complete the legal requirements toobtain their license and extract ferronickel from the mine at Bonao, centralMonseñor Noel province.

He said the company’s economic and moral solvency, theenvironmental remediation plan in the extraction area and the mining programare basic requirements to renew the mining concession to Falconbridge’s newshareholders. "This is about the requirements that we have repeatedlyasked the company for."

Isa added that though the Government wants the Falcondo mineto resume operations with “all the benefits that entails” for the province, theprocess must count with the necessary guarantees and strict compliance.