Mining is not a sunset industry – expert – by James Konstantin Galvez (The Manila Times – August 17, 2016)

THE mining industry will always remain a major pillar of the Philippines economy, a management consultancy firm specializing on mining said.

Challenging President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent remark that minerals development sector is already a sunset industry, the president and CEO of Amdgy Consultancy, Deogracias Contreras, said that there will never be a sunset in the local mining industry.

Speaking at a roundtable discussion at Lido, Contreras cited the country’s increasing need for both metallic and non-metallic resources to keep the economy moving forward. “Since the dawn of time, we have been mining. Mining is not just metallic, it also includes non-metallic and energy,” he pointed out. President Duterte had vowed to limit mining operations in an effort to preserve what is left of the country’s natural resources.

The Philippines is the fourth mineral-rich country in the world. However, the government has yet to harness the full potential of these resources, both metallic and non-metallic mineral, which at current market prices is estimated at about P73.47 trillion.

Duterte stressed that the government can do away with the billions of pesos collected from the mining industry, which is often perceived as environmentally destructive.

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