Mining investments hit $600 million in first half

MANILA, Philippines - Investments in the mining sector have recently exceeded $600 million and may now be close to $700 million, Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) director Edwin Domingo said yesterday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Mining Philippines 2010 Conference and Exhibit at the Manila Hotel yesterday, Domingo said preliminary figures indicates that total investments in the mining sector is somewhere between $600 million and $700 million for the first half of the year.

The MGB’s full-year target is $1.429 billion.

Domingo is confident that the target can be attained based on recent developments such as the Mindoro Resources Ltd. (MRL) project being backed by the World Bank’s International Finance Corp.; TVI Resource Development Philippines, Inc. entering into a tieup with DMCI to develop the Canatuan project; the Taganito high pressure acid leach (HPAL) project and the Runruno project of Metals Exploration, Inc.

In a separate interview, Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) president Benjamin Philip Romualdez expressed continued optimism in the potential of the mining sector, noting the 51- percent increase in production values of the metallic minerals sector for the first half of the year.

Romualdez said that in a recent trip to China, several Chinese firms which he did not identify, expressed interest in investing up to $600 million in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Sias Els, president and chief executive officer of the Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp. (PASAR), stressed the need for the Aquino administration to address the issue of high power rates.

According to Els, the Philippines’ high power rates is second only to that of Japan.

Other mining executives who requested anonymity also expressed concern about the lack of cohesion between the national and local governments on mining policies, particularly the open pit mining ban issued by the provincial board of South Cotabato.

One foreign mining executive warned that if the open pit mining ban issue is not resolved positively “you can kiss investments goodbye.

The mining executive added, “why will you stay in the Philippines when there are other places you can go to?”