METALLIC mineral production value decreased by 6.69 percent in the first half of 2024 to P114.77 billion from P123.01 billion for the similar period in 2023, according to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).
MGB said the decline was due to lower gold and nickel output paired with reduced prices of nickel products in the global market. In a report, gold had the biggest contribution to the total production value for the period with P54.79 billion, equivalent to 47.74 percent.
It was followed by nickel ore together with its products such as mixed nickel-cobalt sulfide and scandium oxalate with P44.38 billion, equivalent to 38.67 percent, and copper with P13.33 billion or 11.61 percent. The combined mine value of silver, chromite and iron ore accounted for about 1.98 percent or P2.28 billion.
In terms of production for the period, gold went down by 6 percent to 14,187 kilograms (kg) from 15,111 kg; nickel ore volume declined by 19.42 percent to 13,372,483 dry metric tons (dmt) from 16,595,757 dmt; silver dipped by 0.2 percent to 23,268 kg from 23,319 kg; and iron ore fell by 43.4 percent to 31,798 dmt from 56,131 dmt.
For the period, only copper and chromite noted growth in production volume.
Copper increased by 6.75 percent to 142,050 dmt from 133,072 dmt and chromite surged by 54.88 percent to 73,013 dmt from 47,449 dmt.
Meanwhile, the average price of gold grew by 13.9 percent to $2,203.52 per troy ounce from $1,933.95 per troy ounce, while average copper prices rose by 15 percent to $4.02 per lb from $3.5 per lb.
The average price of nickel for the period fell by 27.7 percent to $7.94 per lb from $10.98 per lb.
MGB did not provide the average prices of silver, chromite and iron ore for the period.
For the first semester, MGB estimated the excise tax collected amounted to P2.84 billion, broken down as follows: P1.14 billion or 40.07 percent from gold mines; P990 million or 35.17 percent from copper mines; P650 million or 22.82 percent from nickel mines; and P50 million or 2.22 percent from the combined collection from chromite and iron mines.
It also estimated the collection from the royalties derived by the government from the development and utilization of the mineral resources within the mineral reservation areas at about P81.33 million. There are currently 20 mining projects and one chromite mining project within the mineral reservation areas, MGB said.
