Manuel B. Zamora Jr., founder of Nickel Asia Corporation (NAC), relinquished his post as Chairman of the Board in a move meant to challenge the company’s management to gear up to a new generation of challenges and opportunities.

In accepting his retirement during their meeting last August 7, the Board of Directors appointed Mr. Zamora as Chairman Emeritus.

At the same time, the Board installed Mr. Gerard H. Brimo as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) while Mr. Martin Antonio “Dennis” G. Zamora was appointed President.

Mr. Brimo joined NAC as President and CEO in 2008 and is concurrently Chairman of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines. He is also a member of the Multi- Stakeholder group of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

Mr. Dennis Zamora joined NAC in 2007 as Vice President, appointed Senior Vice President in 2012 and Executive Vice President in 2017.

As the transition comes, some changes in reporting lines will be implemented at the Head Office.

All functional heads now report to the President, with Internal Audit VP Angel Villamor reporting directly to the Chairman/CEO.

Also, a management meeting chaired by the President and involving the Chairman/CEO, the COO, the SVP Finance and the Vice Presidents for Legal, Human Resources, Marketing, Corporate Communications and Internal Audit as members will be convened on a monthly basis, beginningAugust 29th.

With his assumption to the Presidency, Dennis Zamora, vowed to nurture what was built by his father and Mr. Brimo for the last 10 years and bring the Company to even greater heights.

“As I take stock of the challenge before me personally and before NAC, one thing is clear - to build on what has been achieved over the last 10 years under my father and Jerry Brimo. Those are big shoes to fill,” he said.

He added: “But I also know we can’t sit on our laurels and we have no intention of doing so. So I will be focused on succession, making sure we have leaders ready to step up when necessary as others retire. We need to improve on efficiencies to deliver on our targets. And last but definitely not the least we need to remain alert to opportunities for NAC in a fast changing world.”

Mr. Manuel B. Zamora, Jr.is the founder of NAC and its subsidiary companies—Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corp. (RTNMC), Taganito Mining Corporation (TMC), Hinatuan Mining Corporation (HMC) and Cagdianao Mining Corporation (CMC).

NAC’s first operation, RTNMC, started operations in 1975. Since then, NAC has grown to four operating subsidiaries, with investments in the country’s only two nickel processing plants—Coral Bay Nickel Corporation (CBNC) and Taganito HPAL Nickel Corporation (THPAL).

NAC is today the Philippines’ largest producer of lateritic ore, and one of the largest in the world selling over 120 million WMT to its customers

In November 2017, RTNMC won Best Practices in Sustainable Mineral Development in the first Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Mineral Awards, conferred during the sixth ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Minerals in Myanmar.

Amid the transition, NAC also announced its unaudited financial and operating results for the six months ended June 30 wherein its attributable net income (net of minority interests) rose to P1.57 billion from last year’s P1.54 billion.

In a release to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Dennis Zamora explained: “The increasing ore supply from Indonesia and its negative effect on ore export prices remains our biggest challenge for the remainder of the year. On the other hand, we expect to continue benefitting from a significant price improvement on ore deliveries to the two processing plants, which are linked to LME prices.