What Cerro Matoso does

Cerro Matoso S.A. is a Colombian industrial mining company and the only ferronickel producer in Colombia, operating since 1982 from its integrated mining and metallurgical complex in the San Jorge region of southern Córdoba (Montelíbanо municipality). The company extracts lateritic nickel ore via open-pit mining using hydraulic excavators and 35- and 100-ton trucks, then processes the ore through crushing, homogenization in 120,000-tonne stockpiles, drying, calcination, and smelting to produce ferronickel (a ferroalloy typically containing 20-50% nickel) for export. The company's sole commercial product, ferronickel, is sold as a key input for stainless steel manufacturing, with downstream applications spanning aerospace, construction, metalworking, medical/surgical instruments, and energy-transition infrastructure such as solar farms and wind turbines.

The business operates as a B2B commodity exporter under multi-year contracts with international steel manufacturers, with pricing tied to LME nickel quotations and not publicly disclosed. As of year-end 2025, Cerro Matoso employed more than 2,300 direct and contractor staff (85% from Córdoba), produced 36,422 tonnes of nickel contained in ferronickel, paid approximately $334 billion COP in combined royalties and taxes, and procured roughly $652 billion COP in goods and services. Following a strategic review initiated by South32 in December 2023 and a definitive agreement signed on July 7, 2025, Cerro Matoso was acquired by CoreX Holding B.V. — a Netherlands-domiciled, Turkey-operated diversified industrial conglomerate founded in 2024 — with the transaction closing in December 2025. The asset is supported by a wholly-owned community foundation (Fundación Cerro Matoso, originally created in 1981), 1,000 hectares of dedicated biodiversity conservation area, and 17 air quality monitoring stations, reflecting the social license and environmental compliance requirements intrinsic to operating a large-scale lateritic nickel operation in Colombia.

Name

Cerro Matoso

Legal name

Cerro Matoso S.A.

Website

https://cerromatoso.com.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Cerro Matoso S.A. is Colombia's only ferronickel producer, operating an integrated open-pit mining and metallurgical facility in southern Córdoba since 1982. It exports ferronickel to global stainless steel manufacturers serving aerospace, construction, and energy-transition industries, and became a subsidiary of CoreX Holding B.V. in December 2025.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Ferronickel Mining and Production

NAICS

Copper, Nickel, Lead, and Zinc Mining (212230), Other Metal Ore Mining (212290)

SIC

Metal Mining (1000), Primary Smelting & Refining Of Nonferrous Metals (3330)

akta.pro primary industry

Nickel Mining & Concentrates (IMAKAFAB)

Keywords

• Ferronickel production
• Nickel mining
• Lateritic ore processing
• Metallurgical smelting
• Stainless steel inputs

Headquarters

HQ city

Córdoba

HQ country

Colombia

HQ region

Latin America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Personnel, Others, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Ferronickel Export Sales: Production and export of nickel contained in ferronickel, the only operation of its kind in Colombia. The product is sold to international markets for use in stainless steel manufacturing across various industries.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Cerro Matoso operates an integrated open-pit mining and metallurgical operation that extracts lateritic nickel ore and transforms it into ferronickel (nickel contained in ferronickel) for export. The company is the only ferronickel producer in Colombia, with a production cycle encompassing mining, crushing, homogenization, drying, calcination, and smelting. Its ferronickel product is sold to international stainless steel manufacturers serving aerospace, construction, metalworking, and medical industries.

Product overview

Cerro Matoso operates as a mining-industrial company that produces ferronickel (nickel contained in ferronickel) — the only ferronickel operation in Colombia. The company's integrated production cycle encompasses open-pit mining in lateritic deposits, crushing and homogenization in 120,000-tonne stockpiles, followed by drying, calcination, and smelting processes to produce ferronickel pellets for export. The product is essential for giving stainless steel its anticorrosive properties and serves industries including aerospace, construction, metalworking, and surgical applications. Cerro Matoso also operates various community development programs (scholarships, technical training seedbeds) and environmental initiatives that support local communities but are not considered separate product offerings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ferronickel (Nickel contained in ferronickel) Ferronickel is a ferroalloy composed primarily of iron and nickel (typically 20–50% nickel content), produced through reduction of lateritic minerals. Cerro Matoso's ferronickel is exported and serves as a key input for manufacturing stainless steel and alloyed steels, providing corrosion resistance properties to steel used in aerospace, construction, metalworking, surgical, and household appliance applications.

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Pacific Metals Co., Ltd. Pacific Metals is a Japanese ferronickel and nickel-iron alloy producer founded on ferronickel smelting technology with laterite feed. It is a direct peer to Cerro Matoso in the global ferronickel supply market, particularly for Asian stainless steel customers.
• Eramet: Eramet is a French mining and metallurgy group whose SLN (Société Le Nickel) subsidiary is one of the world's largest ferronickel producers, operating laterite mines and ferronickel smelters in New Caledonia. It is the closest functional peer to Cerro Matoso given the shared laterite-to-ferronickel production chain and similar end-markets in stainless steel.
• PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (Antam): Antam is an Indonesian state-linked miner that operates laterite nickel mines and ferronickel smelters (Halmahera) producing ferronickel primarily for stainless steel markets in Asia. It is a direct geographic-functional peer in the global ferronickel supply pool.
• Sherritt International: Sherritt International is a Canadian mining company that produces nickel from lateritic ores, including through the Ambatovy joint venture in Madagascar, supplying ferronickel and nickel intermediates to stainless steel producers. Comparable to Cerro Matoso on feedstock (laterite), process route, and primary end-product (ferronickel).

Broad incumbents

• Anglo American plc: Anglo American is a diversified global miner that has historically held nickel assets (currently exiting) and competes for capital and customer relationships in the stainless steel raw-materials market. Its nickel division provides a broad-incumbent peer reference for laterite operations.
• Glencore plc: Glencore is a major diversified miner and commodity trader with global nickel operations and trading desks that move physical nickel and ferronickel internationally. Its trading arm interacts directly with Cerro Matoso's downstream stainless steel customer base.
• Vale S.A. Vale is a major diversified mining company with significant nickel operations, including laterite mines in Indonesia and Canada producing ferronickel and nickel intermediates. Relevant as a broad incumbent with comparable nickel production end-markets.
• Tsingshan Holding Group: Tsingshan is the world's largest producer of stainless steel and a leading producer of nickel pig iron (NPI) from laterite ores in Indonesia. While NPI differs chemically from ferronickel, both feed the same stainless steel value chain, making Tsingshan a powerful demand-pricing comparable for Cerro Matoso's output.
• South32 Limited: South32 was Cerro Matoso's parent until December 2025 and is a diversified miner with broader exposure across aluminum, manganese, coal, and copper-zinc. It divested Cerro Matoso precisely because of nickel market structure but remains a relevant comparator given intimate operational knowledge of the asset.
• BHP Group: BHP was Cerro Matoso's ultimate parent prior to the 2015 South32 spin-off. It is a diversified global miner with exposure to nickel alongside copper, iron ore, and metallurgical coal, and represents a relevant incumbent comparable in terms of large-scale laterite nickel history.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CerroMatosoSA
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC6Yjppt1ZolZM09LxJUSTMg
• Facebookfacebook.com/CerroMatososouth32
• LinkedInco.linkedin.com/company/cerro-matoso
• Instagraminstagram.com/cerro.matoso

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cerro Matoso