The year 2022 saw a myriad of challenges as the Russian war on Ukraine, inflation, market volatility, food shortages, rising energy prices, and lingering pandemic impacts continue to shape global markets. The early part of last year was a robust period for the metals and mining sector. The industry was buoyed by record high prices for some commodities, su...
Commentary by: Mr. Francisco “Jun” Delfin Mr. Francisco “Jun” Delfin is Vice President & COO of PetroGreen Energy Corp. (PGEC) and President of Maibarara Geothermal Inc. (MGI), subsidiaries of publicly-listed and Yuchengco Group of Companies (YGC) affiliate PetroEnergy Resources Corp. He is a geologist with a PhD in public administration from the ...
Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. is barely in his first year of his office and already is facing a myriad of challenges from soaring inflation and public debt to a devaluating peso against the dollar. While trying to sustain economic recovery following stagnation from the COVID-19 pandemic, Marcos is hard put to tame the increasing costs of c...
Every time there is a change in administration, the mineral industry always anticipate with bated breath the identity of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (“DENR”) secretary. The presidential appointee is scrutinized whether he or she is either sympathetic to the mining industry or a staunch environmental advocate. This can be attributed...
Allow me to take this opportunity to pay my respects to our 12th President, Fidel Valdez Ramos, who passed away on 31 July 2022. PFVR is credited with many things, including ushering a period of stability and creating an environment conducive for investments, but the mining industry is understandably most grateful to him for the passage during his term o...
As Diwata-Women in Resource Development, Inc. (“Diwata”) marks its tenth-year anniversary on July 18 this year (incidentally, also Nelson Mandela Day), it takes pride announcing the launch of an award to recognize the best Social Development & Management Program that specifically benefits indigenous peoples, specifically women and girls. When Diwat...
President Rodrigo R. Duterte issued an order last year that lifted the ban on open-pit mining imposed in 2017. The lifting of the ban would have allowed the $5.9-billion Tampakan copper-gold mine project to proceed, the largest untapped copper-gold deposit in Southeast Asia and one of the world’s biggest. Sagittarius Mines, Inc. holds the Financial and Te...
Photo credit: Good News Pilipinas As this column is being written, there are less than 100 days to go before the May 9 elections. Many voters have made their minds up from the outset, some purely based on their visceral reactions to, and past experiences with, the candidates. However, we owe it to ourselves and future generations to scrutinize the ca...
Last year saw miners experiencing record profitability and revenue. While the industry continues to benefit from relative high metal prices and opportunities from the clean energy transition and digital transformation, there are identified risks arising from COVID-19's resurgence and disruptions, potential for weaker-than-expected global economic growth, ...
In recent years, ESG - environmental, social and governance – has become a major concern in corporate boardrooms: criteria by which strategy is developed and risks are assessed. While the term may be relatively new [having been coined as late as 2005 in a study of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) entitled “Who Cares Wins”], it has always been...
New mining projects faces relative difficulty in attracting investments because of opposition by host communities and local governments brought about by potential mine accidents, transparency issues, and operations infringing on ancestral and agricultural lands. Regulators often impose huge taxes and environmental users’ fees on new projects, in addition ...
Pacaya volcano is one of the most active volcanoes in Guatemala and in Central America. It is 2,500 meters high and located 30 kilometers south of Guatemala City and close to Antigua. It was dormant for more than 70 years but started erupting again in 1961, and has been erupting often ever since. In March 2021, it had two strong explosions. After four mon...
In my previous column, I had mentioned that, in the Stakeholders’ Forum on Recent Policy Issuances Relating to Mining conducted by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) last June, hopes were raised that the ban on open pit mining would finally be lifted. In response to a question in the open forum, MGB Director Wilfredo Moncano stated that the repealing...
During the early stages of the pandemic, the performance of the mineral industry was seriously dictated by the slowdown of economic activities, lethargic world metal prices, and limited and hampered mining operations. The mining index however, made a turnaround by the end of 2020 and has recovered by an astonishing US$636 billion thanks to a boom in spend...
When Indonesia announced the reimposition of their nickel export ban in 2019, why were many key players in the Philippine mining industry optimistic about this? Was their optimism based on the belief that Indonesia is out of the game due to their nickel export ban? Did the Philippines really benefit from Indonesia’s export ban on laterite nickel ores? ...
In Issue 4 of Philippine Resources, I recapped how much of my 2020 was spent on Zoom calls and webinars. A year and a half into the pandemic, and after 15 months of working from home, the situation has not changed, and it looks like this will be our way of life for some time to come. Major online events were conducted recently by the Department of Env...
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