Advancements in the electric vehicle industry and steel manufacture make for a compelling story for nickel mining in the country.
The Philippine Nickel Industry Association (PNIA) particularly holds a sanguine view of the nickel industry given the growing global demand for the metal due to its wide range of applications in the shift towards clean energy.
The group said that aside from being a critical component in electric vehicle (EV) batteries, raw nickel ore is a critical ingredient in making stainless steel used in the development of mega cities and in renewable energy technologies.
Dante Bravo, PNIA president, said the estimated value of investments in the global EV industry is around $300 billion but seen growing to $1 trillion as EV sales double in the next five years.
“Clean energy and smart cities cannot be realized without nickel as nickel has cross-cutting use in the development and manufacturing of various clean energy technologies such as electric vehicles, solar panels, power grid systems, wind turbines and new technologies such as hydrogen-based energy.”
Dante Bravo, PNIA president
He also said demand for nickel will continue to be influenced by China just as it did the past decade due to the reopening of its economy and the rollout of investment plans that restarted activity in the construction sector and triggered more demand for the metal.
According to the PNIA, the Philippines needs to attract investments enabling the exploration, processing and further development of local nickel reserves.
He noted the Philippines has licensed 34 nickel mines that in 2022 produced 29.2 million dry metric tons (dmt) of the metal.
First-quarter production this year totaled 3.9 million dmt and should significantly grow as the industry starts to attract investments and there is a clear viable track towards value added processing, Bravo said.
But even with 30 operational nickel mines, Bravo said the Philippines has only two successfully operating nickel processing plants and investments are needed to support further exploration.
Nickel processing plants process at least 100 million tons of raw nickel ore to remain
According to data from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, the country’s metallic mineral production value as of first quarter this year was at P58.92 billion, up by 22.83 percent from last year’s P47.97 billion.
From the said amount, the collective values of direct shipping nickel ore together with its nickel products, mixed nickel-cobalt sulfide and scandium oxalate contributed P23.85 billion or 40.48 percent.
Philippine Statistics Authority data show class A nickel reserves valued at P246.25 billion as at end-2022 or 557.86 million metric tons of the metal.
