The monetary value of so-called class A gold, copper, nickel and chromite reserves increased by 22 percent to P491.19 billion in 2022 versus only P402.73 billion the year before, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The agency said this was determined by the Mineral Accounts of the Philippines which provides information on stock changes of the four metallic resources for monitoring and sustainability purposes.
Class A mineral reserves as those rated as commercially recoverable resources and confirmed as economically viable by a defined development project or operation.
Class A gold reserves for the period was valued at P183.32 billion, a 20.5 percent jump from 2021’s P152.09 billion.
The stock of class A gold reserves, however, fell to only 625,200 kilograms (kg) in 2022 or 3.3 percent lower than in 2021 when this stood at 646,600 kg . Gold reserve production for the period increased by 21.5 percent from 17,610 kg to 21,400 kg.
In the same period, the value of class A copper reserves hit P59.43 billion, a 23.3 percent jump from only P48.20 billion in 2021.
Despite the increase in value, class A copper reserves fell to only 165.98 million metric tons (MT) equal to a 0.04 percent decline from 2021’s 166.04 million MT as the production of copper rose 15.4 percent to 59,510 kg from 51,590 kg.
Class A nickel reserves were valued at P246.25 billion in 2022 which was a 21.9 percent increase from 2021’s P201.95 billion.
Class A nickel reserves stood at only 557.86 million MT in 2022 or 3.2 percent lower than in 2021 when this totaled from 576.38 million MT. Production also weakened 12.1 percent to only 28.96 million MT from 32.93 million MT.
The value of class A chromite reserves was estimated at P2.20 billion or more than four times its value in 2021 of only P479.69 million.
Class A chromite reserves stood 0.2 percent lower to only 35.89 million MT from 35.97 million MT although production went up four-fold from 17,610 MT to 77,130 MT.
Earlier, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) said the country’s metallic mineral production value surged 31.73 percent in 2022 to P238.05 billion from 2021’s P180.71 billion.
The MGB said this developed despite the lingering impact of the pandemic and the protracted Russia and Ukraine conflict that slowed global economic activities and disrupted supply and demand chains.
