A mining company is planning to invest P1 billion for the construction of a nickel refinery plant in the country.
In an interview over the weekend, Board of Investments (BOI) Managing Head Elmer C. Hernandez said he has been approached by mining firms who have signified interest in building a nickel refinery plant.
A nickel refinery plant costs anywhere between P500 million to P1 billion.
“A number of investors are now looking at the Philippines as a source of nickel ore and they want to put up a refinery,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez, however, refused to name the firm.
He said possible locations of the refinery are Palawan, Surigao, Mindoro and Zambales while the number of refineries to be set up will be dependent on the nickel ore reserves of the country.
The mining sector attracted investments worth P13 billion in 2007.
The companies which invested in mining are Sultan Energy Philippines with P2.1 billion; Berong Nickel with P1.2 billion; DBI Resources Development Corp. with P874 million, Oriental Synergy Mining Corp. with P33 million; MG Mining and Energy Corp. with P307 million; and Rio Tuba Mining with P111 million.
“For this year, I think the government should concentrate on infrastructure, mining, oil exploration, IT (information technology) enabled services, and renewable energy sources,” Hernandez said
With mining, he said the interest will be high because the price of metal is going up especially gold.
Hernandez said gold became more important as the dollar continues to weaken against other currencies. “People always resort to gold,” he explained.
Aside from gold, Hernandez expects big investments for copper and nickel mining for this year.
“The country is very abundant with natural resources. Investments in mining will definitely continue this year,” he added.
According to Hernandez, infrastructure has always attracted big ticket investments. This is because the country, Hernandez said, is trying to develop its infrastructure in order to attract more businesses to locate in the country.