The country’s metallic mineral production fell 6.69 percent in the first half of 2024 to P114.77 billion, according to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).
The MGB attributed the decline to factors including lower gold and nickel output and reduced price of nickel products in the global market.
The agency said gold accounted for 48 percent or P54.79 billion of the total production value for the period.
Nickel ore accounted for a little over 38 percent or P44.38 billion and copper with 12 percent or P13.33 billion.
The combined value of silver, chromite and iron ore accounted for just under 2 percent or P2.28 billion.
Gold production fell 6 percent to 14,187 kilograms (kg) from 15,111 kg as nickel ore fell 19.42 percent to 13,372,483 dry metric tons (dmt) from 16,595,757 dmt. Silver production slowed 0.2 percent to 23,268 kg from 23,319 kg; and iron ore fell 43.4 percent to 31,798 dmt from 56,131 dmt.
Only copper and chromite posted volume growth during the period.
Copper increased 6.75 percent to 142,050 dmt from 133,072 dmt and chromite surged 54.88 percent to 73,013 dmt from 47,449 dmt.
The price of gold grew an average 13.9 percent to $2,203.52 per troy ounce from $1,933.95 and copper prices rose 1.8 percent to $4.02 per pound from $3.5 per pound. The price of nickel dropped 27.7 percent to $7.94 per pound from $10.98 per pound.
The MGB said the price of silver, chromite and iron ore were unavailable.
The MGB estimated excise tax collection reaching P2.84 billion in the first six months this year, broken down into P1.14 billion or 40 percent from gold mines, P990 million or 35 percent from copper mines, P650 million or 23 percent from nickel mines; and P50 million or 2.22 percent combined collection from chromite and iron mines.
Royalties the government extracts from the development of mineral resources amounted to P81.33 million.
