Philippines metallic production up 7.28% as of end-September

MANILA, Philippines — The value of the country’s metallic output went up by 7.28 percent in the three quarters ending September on the back of higher prices, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) said.

According to the MGB, metallic mineral production remained robust as of the end of September, reaching P189.08 billion compared to only P176.24 billion in the same period last year.

In terms of contribution, nickel snatched the top spot from gold, with a total production value of P90 billion or 47.6 percent.

Gold slipped to the second spot with 41.07 percent valued at P77.65 billion, followed by copper with 9.94 percent or P18.79 billion.

Lastly, the share of silver, chromite, and iron ore amounted to P2.64 billion or about 1.4 percent.

The MGB said prices for precious metals, gold, and silver, exhibited solid gains during the period.

Citing the price bulletin of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the agency said gold went up by as much as $105.60 or 5.78 percent and silver by $1.61 or 7.32 percent change.

“The increased interest in gold investment brought about by the continued high inflation rate, together with the economic slowdown, pushed prices of these metals higher, analysts said. Gold price almost breached the $2,000 mark in April 2023 peaking at $1,998.60 per troy ounce,” the MGB said.

Meanwhile, silver prices are supported by industrial demand in the solar sector and “is projected to stay in high spirits,” it said.

Nickel prices went down to $10.39 per pound from $11.97 per pound, but the MGB said it was still above the pre-pandemic levels.

“Experts speculate that towards the end of the year, nickel prices will go up mainly due to supply reduction coupled with the sustained demand from stainless steel and batteries (electric vehicles) of which nickel is an important component,” the agency said.

In terms of production, nickel ore output rose 24.08 percent to 28.9 million dry metric tons (DMT).

Gold saw volume production rise to 22,935 kilograms from 21,631 kilograms.

Overall silver production dropped 14 percent to 35,784 kilograms from 41,543 kilograms due to the production setback in the mine output of TVI Resources Development (Phils.) Inc.’s Balabag Gold-Silver Project located in Zamboanga del Sur.

On the other hand, copper output increased by two percent to 195,533 dry metric tons, driven by production of Carmen Copper Corp. (CCC) in Cebu.

Chromite production rose to 67,877 DMT from 57,326 DMT from the output of Techiron Resources Inc. and Taganito HPAL Nickel Corp.

In terms of excise taxes and royalties paid to the national government, the estimated excise tax collected is about P5.09 billion while the estimated collection from the royalties derived by the government from the development and utilization of the mineral resources within the mineral reservation areas is about P1.97 billion.

Currently, the country has 21 mining projects located within the mineral reservation areas – 20m nickel mining projects and a chromite mining project.