MANILA, Philippines — The value of the country’s key mineral reserves or commercially recoverable mineral resources rose slightly to over P470 billion last year on the back of higher Class A gold reserves, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
In a report, the PSA said the value of reserves of Class A gold, copper, nickel and chromite reached P474 billion in 2023, up by two percent from P464.51 billion in 2022.
The PSA said the total resource rent of the four mineral resources contributed P57.655 billion, or 0.237 percent, to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023.
Resource rent is the value after the return to produced assets and interest expense are subtracted from the net operating surplus.
The country’s class A gold reserves were valued at P181.61 billion in 2023, about 11 percent higher than the P163.67 billion recorded in 2022.
Meanwhile, the value of Class A copper reserves fell by 10.3 percent year-on-year to P52.85 billion from P58.92 billion.
Likewise, Class A nickel reserves declined to P238.9 billion in 2023 from P241.43 billion in 2022.
The PSA said Class A chromite reserves recorded a value of P645.9 million in 2023, higher by a third than the P485.79 million in 2022.
In terms of physical assets, stocks of Class A gold reserves dipped to 401,700 kilograms (kg) from 408,000 kg.
“The production or extraction of gold, on the other hand, increased to 21,480 kg in 2023 or by 0.4 percent from 21,400 kg in 2022,” it said.
Meanwhile, Class A copper reserves fell by two percent to 2.9 million metric tons (MT) in 2023 from 2.96 million MT in 2022. Likewise, class A nickel stocks declined by six percent on an annual basis to 484.73 million dry MT from 515.93 million dry MT.