Posted in July 2009.
The Philippines has substantial copper, chromite, and gold deposits, and the country also is rich in many other minerals, including coal, cobalt, gypsum, iron, nickel, silver, and sulfur. There are also lesser deposits, not currently being mined, of bauxite, lead, mercury, molybdenum, and zinc.
The latest exploration by the Minerals and Geosciences Bureau in 1996 estimated that the Philippines had 7.1 billion tons of metallic mineral reserves and 51 billion tons of nonmetallic mineral reserves. Of the metallic reserves, copper accounted for 4.8 billion tons, and gold accounted for 110,000 tons. Of the nonmetallic mineral reserves, limestone accounted for 29 billion tons and marble for 8.5 billion tons. The U.S. Department of State estimates that the Philippines possesses untapped mineral wealth of US$840 billion.
One of the world’s top producers of chromite, copper, gold, and nickel in the 1970s and 1980s, the Philippines failed to rank in the top 10 worldwide for the production of any of these minerals or precious metals in 2002. With the closing of several major mines, mining has declined as a share of the gross domestic product (GDP) from a high of 30 percent in the industry’s heyday to 1 percent in 2003. Aging infrastructure, high production costs, low commodity prices, and environmental concerns contributed to the decline. In 2003 mining employed only 4 percent of the labor force and claimed a negligible part, about 9,000 hectares, of the total land area.
However, the fortunes of the mining industry may be looking up. In 2003 President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced that the government was shifting its policy from “tolerance to promotion of mining.” Consistent with the president’s policy, in December 2004 the Supreme Court issued a decision upholding the constitutionality of the 1995 Mining Act, which permits foreign companies to obtain mining and energy service contracts with the Philippine government. Following this decision, the local subsidiary of an Australian mining company announced a gold and copper mining service contract. The government hopes that additional foreign investment in the mining industry will be forthcoming.
