The country’s metallic mineral production value jumped 22.83 percent in the first quarter of the year to P58.92 billion from P47.97 billion in 2022, according to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).
In a report released by the agency, gold had the biggest contribution to total production value at P27.74 billion equivalent to 47.08 percent, followed by the collective values of direct shipping nickel ore and nickel products, mixed nickel-cobalt sulfide and scandium oxalate with P23.85 billion or 40.48 percent.
Copper followed with P6.52 billion or 11.06 percent even as the shared output value of silver, chromite and iron ore contributed P810 million or 1.38 percent.
In terms of production for the period, gold improved by 17 percent to 8,327 kilograms (kg) from 7,103 kg; nickel ore increased by 5.4 percent to 3,997,829 dry metric tons (dmt) from 3,792,676 dmt; and chromite went up 13.64 percent to 20,496 dmt from 18,036 dmt.
Production declines were posted by copper, silver and iron ore during the period.
Copper production dipped 0.17 percent to 64,730 dmt from 64,841 dmt; silver slid 11 percent to 11,327 kg from 12,657 kg; and iron ore dropped 24 percent to 33,497 dmt from 44,133 dmt.
The MGB said that in the first quarter of 2023, only gold logged an increase in average price which improved 0.75 percent to $1,889.05 per troy ounce from $1,874.91 per troy ounce.
Nickel, copper and silver prices all went down during the review period.
Average nickel prices dropped by 7.5 percent to $11.78 per pound from $12.74 per pound; copper prices slowed down by 10.6 percent to $4.05 per pound from $4.53 per pound; and silver by 4.22 percent to $22.94 per troy ounce from $23.95 per troy ounce.
But despite the drop in prices for most metals during the period, these were at levels and prices “way above their pre-pandemic levels” compared to the second half of 2022.
The agency said the outlook for the minerals sector remains positive with the expected growth in demand for nickel and gold.
“This expectation will be driven by the lifting of China’s zero COVID-19 policy last December which imposed severe lockdowns in early 2022. The bulk of our nickel ore has always been exported to China. During the last two years, almost 97 percent of our nickel direct shipping ore exports went to China and the rest to Japan and South Korea,” the MGB said.
MGB also said gold’s diverse use in jewelry, technology and investment assets during the economic slowdown placed the metal in an advantageous position compared to other metals.
The agency said the Philippines trades its gold with Switzerland, Hongkong, India and China.
