Philippine miner Oriental jumps 23 pct in debut

MANILA, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Shares in Philippine nickel miner Oriental Peninsula (ORE.PS) rose 23 percent in the market debut of its 804 million peso ($19 million) initial public offering, the first local listing of a minerals firm in 24 years.

Oriental Peninsula, which plans to use the proceeds to fund site development and exploration, hit a high of 3.30 pesos compared to its offer price of 2.68 pesos, above the midpoint of an earlier indicated range of 1.98-2.98 pesos and valuing the company at 4.9 billion pesos ($117 million).

At 0345 GMT, the stock was trading at 3.2 pesos while the general index .PSI was down 0.23 percent.

The public offer, equivalent to nearly 21 percent of its share capital, was popular among small investors.

During the 1970s, the Philippines was one of the world centres for mining but a series of environmental mishaps, land disputes and stricter rules on foreign involvement saw investment disappear and the industry collapse.

The archipelago still has an estimated $1 trillion in unexplored mineral wealth and, after several false starts, the country is beginning to attract a steady flow of foreign direct investment.

Oriental Peninsula owns two mines in southwestern Philippines and has said it was looking at building a smelting plant for nickel, either on its own or through a joint venture with a foreign company.

Oriental Peninsula was the 14th IPO in the Philippines this year. Local companies have raised more than $2 billion in capital, with the bulk of funds from follow-on and stock rights issues.

Helped by a growing economy, the main Philippine index has risen more than 16 percent this year, but underperformed a 30 percent gain in MSCI's emerging markets index .MSCIEF. ($1=41.7 pesos) (Reporting by Karen Lema, editing by Jan Dahinten)