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Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corp was fined P100,000 by the Bureau of Customs for loading nickel ore onto a vessel without permission from the agency
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The nickel ore began loading onto the bulk carrier MV Jin Yuan on February 6 without an Authority to Load from BOC
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RTN received verbal instructions from BOC on February 7 to pay to the penalty before it could resume loading the ore onto the vessel
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Nickel Asia said RTN paid the penalty on the same day
Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corp. (RTN) has paid a penalty of P100,000 to the Bureau of Customs (BOC) for loading nickel ore onto a vessel without authority from the agency.
The nickel ore was being loaded onto MV Jin Yuan on February 6 without an Authority to Load from customs, RTN’s parent Nickel Asia Corp. said in a regulatory disclosure on February 8.
On February 7, RTN representatives were advised that they should only start loading after receiving the authority from BOC pursuant to Section 16 of Customs Memorandum Order No. 22-2010 (Revised Customs Port Operations Manual).
The permission is given by an authorized customs personnel to load goods for outright exportation.
RTN then received verbal instructions from BOC on February 7 directing it to pay to the penalty of before it could resume the loading the ore onto MV Jin Yuan.
Shipping sources said the Hong Kong-flagged vessel arrived in Palawan on February 5 from the port of Yangshan.
Nickel Asia said RTN paid the penalty on the same day.
RTN operates at Barangay Rio Tuba in Bataraza, Palawan. RTN exports saprolite and limonite ore, and provides limonite ore and non-mining services to the Coral Bay Nickel Corp., in which Nickel Asia has a 10% stake.
The company exports nickel ore to China, which uses the raw material to produce nickel for various industrial applications.
