Philippines mineral production breaches P200 billion in H1

MANILA, Philippines — The value of the country’s metallic mineral production reached more than P200 billion in the first half, driven by price rallies for gold and nickel.

Preliminary data from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) showed that the value of metallic mineral production rose by 41 percent to P202.18 billion in the January to June period from P142.99 billion last year. 

Gold was the top contributor to overall production value, amounting to P114.5 billion, followed by nickel direct shipping ore, valued at P42.17 billion.

Latest MGB data showed that the value of gold production surged by 42 percent from P80.43 billion in the same period in 2025.

However, the volume of gold output fell by 12 percent to 12,771 kilos from 14,604 kilos the prior year. 

The value of nickel ore production rose by 47 percent in the six-month period from P28.59 billion last year. 

The country produced 19.24 million dry metric tons (DMT) of nickel ore in the first half, 25 percent higher than the 15.32 million MT produced in the same period in 2025. 

The MGB also reported that the value of copper concentrate production amounted to P13.85 billion, a slight increase from P13.67 billion a year ago. 

By volume, copper concentrate output amounted to 120,586 DMT during the period. 

Silver production reached 18,607 kilos, 22 percent lower than the 24,091 kilos recorded in 2025. The value of silver output, on the other hand, jumped by 77 percent to P2.48 billion from P1.4 billion.

The MGB also reported that the production value of mixed nickel-cobalt sulfide increased by 55 percent to P27.96 billion from P18.02 billion.

Chamber of Mines of the Philippines chairman Michael Toledo told The STAR that elevated global commodity prices, especially for gold and silver, comfortably offset lower production volumes.

“We wouldn’t view the temporary drop in gold and silver volumes as a structural decline. Mine output routinely fluctuates due to operational factors like ore grading, mine sequencing, maintenance schedules and weather,” he said.