Gov’t to help miners gain public trust with responsible mining rules
Date: Sep 20, 2018
The government has vowed to work with mining companies to build public confidence in the mining sector.
At the Mining Philippines 2018 International Conference and Exhibition being held at Sofitel in Pasay City, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Undersecretary Analiza Rebuelta-Teh cited the mining industry’s significant contribution to social and economic development.
She said that to communicate the gains of responsible mining in the country, effective environment and social safeguards should be in place on the part of the government. “The mining performance review and the recent policy issuances are efforts to build public confidence on mining,” Teh said.
The Philippines is among the world’s most mineralized nations.
Based on Mines and Geosciences Bureau’s (MGB) estimates, the country’s total estimated gold reserves in 2016 stood at 1.9 billion metric tons (MT) with an average grade of 0.16 grams per ton, while silver has 1.7 billion MT with an average grade of 1.27 grams per ton.
Copper reserves, on the other hand, are estimated to be around 1.8 billion MT, while iron and nickel have reserves of 116 million MT and 116.14 million MT, respectively.
