The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is pushing for the establishment of more mineral processing plants and for the utilization of rare earth elements (REEs) to increase the country’s mineral production and revenue generation.
The agency said there are 108 active mineral processing permits, most of which are for construction materials including those for limestone, sand, gravel and aggregates.
“Mineral processing plants make the mined mineral ready to use for application.
For example, limestone, if processed, will become cement, which is ready to use for construction… If we have more of these plants and more minerals will be processed in the country, then its value will increase even more than 100 percent, and lesser raw materials will be shipped out to other countries, like Japan or China,” said Jim Sampulna, DENR acting secretary, in a statement.
Sampulna also proposed the identification of rare earth elements (REEs) such as scandium and yttrium in operating mines as these are essential materials for many technological devices.
