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...

There is no doubt that public perception of mining is that of a dirty, hazardous, and ecologically-destructive industry. Sustainable mining is non-existent to critics because of the industry’s perceived large carbon footprint brought about by deforestation and large contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. By its very nature, mining is also energy-int...

  Kicking off International Women’s Month, the International Women in Mining Alliance (IWIM) Alliance held its first ever-virtual Global WIM Summit on March 1-2.  Through the wonder of technology, I had the pleasure of connecting with other IWIM leaders throughout the world without having to hop on a plane and despite our differences in time zones. The...

  COVID-19 and its impact on the world provided a harsh lesson and wake-up call for all of us. People lost their jobs, businesses and entire fortunes on account of a virus whose origins remain a mystery. We worked from home, home schooled our kids, stayed away from senior members of our families, canceled special celebrations and well-planned vacations...

By: Patricia A. O. Bunye I have always wondered how the founder of Zoom, Eric Yuan, feels about making over USD12 billion since March 2020, when the pandemic began and practically everyone on the planet has been ‘Zoom-ing’ for work or play. With its simple features, Zoom has left competitors like Skype in the dust. Yuan is now ranked No. 85 on Bloom...

By: Fernando Penarroyo The Philippine economy grew on average by 6.3 percent annually over the last decade due to the country’s sound macroeconomic policies and structural economic reforms under President Rodrigo Duterte and his predecessor Benigno Aquino III. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippine economy ranked among the best performers in Asia...

BY: Fernando “Ronnie” S. Penarroyo Late last year, the International Rights Advocates filed a lawsuit in a Washington DC court on behalf of fourteen (14) Congolese families against several companies, alleging that their children were killed or injured while mining for cobalt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The lawsuit further alleges ...

BY: Patricia A. O. Bunye: Over the past few months, the price of gold has been going haywire. As the coronavirus pandemic changed the world as we knew it in March, the price of gold crashed alongside stocks then quickly regained. Thereafter, a frenzy of investment drove up the price to an all-time high. On August 4, it shot up to USD2,021/troy ounce for t...

By Patricia A. O. BunyeOn 08 March 2020, the Philippine Government declared a State of Public Health Emergency throughout the entire archipelago in light of confirmation of the local transmission of COVID-19. All government agencies and local government units were tasked to assist, cooperate and mobilize resources to undertake critical, urgent and appropr...

The Philippines is currently facing one of the greatest challenges to its economy with the implementation of containment measures brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. The enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) imposed by President Duterte was extended to May 15 on areas deemed still at high risk that includes the National Capital Region and nearby provinc...

By: Fernando “Ronnie” S. PenarroyoLast 05 April 2020, former Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Fulgencio “Jun” Factoran, Jr. died from a lingering illness at the age of 76. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Humanities (cum laude) and Bachelor of Laws from the University of the Philippines (valedictorian, 1967), and hi...

In the morning of 04 December 2018, I received numerous text and viber messages from friends and colleagues from the tight-knit geoscience community informing me that Edwin Domingo, former Department of Environment and Natural Resources (“DENR”) Asst. Secretary, urgently wanted to get in touch with me. I thought that it might be a client referral. I was a...