Electric Metals is preparing to build a nickel processing plant in Loreto, Dinagat Islands, turning laterite ore from nearby mines into battery-grade nickel product instead of shipping it out as raw ore.
Environmental permitting is under way, with community consultation held in October and construction targeted to start in 2027.
Capturing the value domestically
The Philippines is one of the world’s largest nickel ore producers, yet almost all the ore mined here leaves the country unprocessed, as low-value ore. In 2025 the Philippines exported some 55 million wet tonnes of nickel ore, according to the Philippine Nickel Industry Association. About two-thirds went to China, and Indonesia, where much of the processing capacity is Chinese-owned, was the next-largest buyer. Exports to Indonesia are growing fast, and analysts polled by Reuters expect a record in 2026.
The value created by turning that ore into steel products and battery materials is being captured elsewhere.
That value is growing. Electric vehicles, particularly models preferred in the US and Europe that rely on nickel-rich batteries, are driving demand for battery-grade nickel. Buyers increasingly want material that can be traced to responsible, low-impact processing, and from sources that diversify their supply base away from Chinese or Chinese-owned processing plants.
The Philippines has the nickel ore to supply that market directly, but domestic processing has barely moved in a decade. The country has only two commercial-scale nickel processing plants, at Coral Bay and Taganito, and no new plant has been built since Taganito started in 2013. Together they took about 7.6 million wet tonnes of ore in 2025, roughly one-seventh of what the country exports.
"Philippine ore is currently feeding the global battery supply chain, but most of the jobs, the skills and the margin are being earned overseas," said Andrew Bujtor, CEO of Electric Metals. "We have shown that this ore can be processed here, sustainably and at a scale that suits the Philippines. Dinagat is where we start capturing that value domestically."
The plant fits squarely with the government's push for value-added processing of critical minerals. Processing on the island also adds to the revenue base of the province and the municipality, on top of what mining already contributes.
The Dinagat Nickel Processing Plant
The plant will be built and operated by Electric Metals (Dinagat) Inc., the project company of Singapore-headquartered Electric Metals Pte Ltd, working with local partners. It will process laterite ore from existing mining operations nearby and produce up to 2,500 tonnes of nickel a year as battery-grade mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP), with cobalt recovered alongside. For the island's miners, the plant is a new domestic customer for their ore, alongside their export markets.
Dinagat Islands host some of the country's richest nickel laterite and an established mining industry. Processing the ore close to the mines shortens the supply chain and keeps more of the work on the island, and the plant itself needs only about 5 hectares. The site is in Barangay Esperanza, Loreto. The plant will employ 60 to 100 people permanently and 200 to 400 at the peak of construction, with local hiring and training a priority.
Developed and proven in Leyte
The plant uses Electric Metals' proprietary hydrometallurgical process, developed in the Philippines with sustainability and community-benefit at its core. It leaches laterite ore at atmospheric temperature and pressure, without the high-pressure autoclaves of conventional HPAL plants. The result is low energy use, low water consumption, no liquid discharge and zero tailings. The only solid by-product is a non-hazardous residue which will be used to grow crops and native plants to rehabilitate mined-out areas on Dinagat.
The flowsheet is straightforward. Ore is leached with sulphuric acid at atmospheric pressure, iron and other impurities are removed as a stable solid, and nickel and cobalt are then precipitated together as MHP. Water is recycled within the plant, resulting in low water consumption and ensuring no liquid discharges to local water bodies.
The process has already been proven on Philippine ore. At its demonstration plant in Leyte, Electric Metals has produced battery-grade MHP since 2023 and even produced the first nickel metal from Philippine laterite ore, at more than 99.8 per cent nickel, as reported in this journal in July 2025.
"The Leyte plant has taken this process from the laboratory to continuous operation on Philippine ore," said Darwin Manalo, Chief Metallurgist at Electric Metals. "Dinagat applies the same process at commercial scale, with battery-grade MHP as the main product. Nickel metal remains an option as the project grows."
Because the plant is modular and works at atmospheric pressure, it suits island-scale ore sources and local partners. That makes it a model that can be repeated elsewhere in the country.
People and principles
Electric Metals is a sustainability and community-first company. Chairman George Bujtor brings proven Philippine delivery: as Chief Executive of Toledo Mining Corporation he took the Berong Nickel project in Palawan to first shipment in 2007, and as Managing Director of Carmen Copper he led the Cebu mine's ramp-up to full production, upholding strict ESG standards and strong community relations on both. Leoben Evangelista, President of Electric Metals (Dinagat) Inc., brings over 20 years of experience in Dinagat's mining industry and deep ties to the island's communities, and the metallurgical team led by Darwin Manalo brings hands-on experience of running the process.
The company takes permitting and community engagement seriously. Its information, education and communication session in Barangay Esperanza on 24 October opened the formal consultation. Residents' questions, from dust to local benefits, are being built into the environmental impact study, and a social development and management programme will be developed in consultation with the host communities.
Next steps
Electric Metals is targeting its Environmental Compliance Certificate and Mineral Processing Permit in mid-2027, with construction to start in 2027 and first production in 2028. The company will also apply for the government's Green Lane for strategic investments, which coordinates permits across agencies for priority projects.
"Dinagat has supplied raw ore to the world for decades," said Leoben Evangelista, President of Electric Metals (Dinagat) Inc. "Now we will produce battery materials right here, cleanly and locally, built with the community and for the country."
