Philippines Holds World’S Second Largest Gold Reserves

[Old55]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphjennings/2015/04/05/trillion-dollar-goldmine-for-philippine-economy-emerging-from-murky-pit/

 

 

Trillion-Dollar Philippine Economic Goldmine Emerging From Murky Pit
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The Philippines holds the world’s second largest gold reserves, and applications from foreign mining firms are piling up to tap that plus a list of other metals that basically just sit under the ground now. Mining made up just 0.72 of the impoverished Southeast Asian country’s economy in 2012 as gold production fell back 50% to 15,762 tons that year. Access to the $1.4 trillion Philippine mining sector, rich also in copper and nickel, has been mired since the 1980s in klutzy laws, environmental battles and land rights issues. It may be on its way out of the pit this year.

Officials in Manila see mining as an untapped treasure that could help sustain recent annual economic growth of about 6% and bring in foreign investment – a national priority since 2010. It’s one of the country’s next boom sectors, forecasts Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist with Banco de Oro UniBank in metro Manila.

Filipino indigenous peoples stand behind mock shields calling for the repeal of the Mining Act of 1995, during a rally in Manila. (Photo by Richard James Mendoza/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The government wants more foreign investment in mining, in turn adding to some 250,000 jobs offered by the industry. Officials in Manila also insist on getting a bigger share of revenues from the nation’s treasures before they go offshore. That’s why Executive Order 79, signed in 2012 and now pending Congressional approval, may lead to an excise tax of 10% on gross sales of minerals, replacing two smaller taxes today. A fiscal mining framework under study now may give Manila more royalties, as well. Once those regulations gel, investment in mining should pick up, says Benedict Uy, a Philippine trade representative stationed in Taipei, relieving a pipeline of overseas mining firms awaiting permits. “There are a lot of mineral deposits in the Philippines, but everybody’s on hold till we come up with a clear regulation on how to handle these things, and I think it’s coming out soon,” Uy says.

Executive Order 79 would also calm environmental interests if it goes far enough. The draft legislation clarifies parts of the Philippines that are closed to mining and calls for more enforcement of environmental rules. Environmental protests fueled in part by wrath against foreigners taking Philippine resources have sparked two deadly shootings in Bukidnon province, part of the country’s second largest island Mindanao and a major mining source, New York advocacy group Human Rights Watch says. South Cotabato province in Mindanao bans open-pit mining, cramping a $5.9 billion copper and gold mining project.

If Executive Order 79 creates a one-stop permitting process for miners as proposed and forces staunchly autonomous local governments to be more transparent about contracts, as proposed, foreign investors would worry less about getting mired in legal messes. Also in the legal department, the government’s Mines and Geosciences Bureau intends to stop permit speculation, meaning more of the 700-some permits out there now would be used for extraction rather than sold onward for a higher price and deterring foreign investors who need a geographically unified cluster of go-aheads to do work on a profitable scale. “To the credit of the mining bureau, they are trying to solve this, but it’s not one or two,” says Jose Mari Lacson, head of research at Philippine stock brokerage Campos & Lanuza.. “We’re talking about hundreds of these fragmented mining permits.”

Foreign companies active in the country’s 35 commercial-scale mines feature Australian-based OceanaGold, which employees 1,800 people to extracts copper and gold from the Didipio Mine on Luzon Island north of Manila. It began commercial mining two years ago and expects production of 100,000 ounces of gold and 14,000 tons of copper over 16 years. Also on Luzon Island, UK-based Metals Exploration has owned the Runruno Gold-Molybdenum Project since 2005 with a defined mineral resource of 1.39 million ounces of gold. Local company Philex Mining is particularly aggressive in Mindanao, and Forbes called it one of Asia’s best firms under a billion in 2012.

Other miners are eager to follow. “Very simple, solve the policy and solve the environment (issues) and you’ll have a lot of investors,” Ravelas says.

Edited April 6, 2015 by Old55

[Old55]

Interesting to read the comments to that Forbes news brief. 

 

William Jabines 13 hours ago
Thanks to the leadership of President Aquino. Yes, the Philippines needs foreign investors in order to prosper the economy. I have a strong feeling that corruption will come back as soon as the leadership changes. So, Philippines needs six more years of President Aquino style of leadership. Who’s out there are you going to trust?

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dune dune 13 hours ago
The author of this article and Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist with Banco de Oro UniBank in Metro Manila are way up in Cloud 9 about realities on the ground about mining in the Philippines. They are too naive to ignore corruption among government officials enforcing enviromental laws, notwithstanding PNoy’s Daang Patuwad. They still see as something good the plunder by foreigners of Philippine natural resources even as millions are deprived of their farmlands, fishing grounds and other sustainable sources of income. Philippine economic planners rely on foreign investors to tap the wealth beneath our feet instead of promoting local investment and developing Filipino technology to tap those resources. In Rapu-Rapu, Albay, Michael Defensor predicted in 2005 that Bicol would be “one of the richest if not the richest region in the country” in 5 years. In 2010, Bicol still ranked 3rd poorest and Rapu-Rapu remained poor at 3rd class category. In 2014, NEDA said that Bicol was “top contributor to the nation’s poor population.” STOP DECEIVING US! LEAVE OUR GOLD AND OTHER MINERALS UNDER OUR FEET UNTIL WE FILIPINOS ACQUIRE THE TECHNOLOGY TO TAP THEM WITHOUT DESTROYING OUR MOUNTAINS, RIVERS AND SEAS. OUR NATURAL RESOURCES ARE FOR US AND OUR CHILDREN’S CHILDREN, NOT FOR ALIENS!

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Russ Sandlin Russ Sandlin 12 hours ago
Not even a top ten producer. And ALL Filipinos say there is tons of gold to be mined, or to be found by long lost pirates, Japanese troops or whatever. They don’t have much gold, and unless you can produce some sort of actual survey data, which you can’t, you are just another foreigner that fell for bola bola. The Philippines has less gold in the ground than all these countries pare:

China

China is the largest gold producing country in the world, producing 403t (tonnes) of gold in 2012, an 11.7% increase in production over the previous year.
The country accounted for 13.7% of the global gold production in 2012. China also tops the list in gold consumption.
The majority of the Chinese gold production comes from five provinces, namely Shandong, Henan, Jiangxi, Yunnan and Fujian. Zijin Mining Company, which operates Zijinshan gold and copper mine, is the country’s largest gold producer.
Australia

Australia is the second main gold producing country in the world. It produced 253t of gold during 2011-12, a four percent decrease over 2010-11production. Australia contributed 9.31% of global gold output in 2012.
Most of the Australian gold mines are located in Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales, with 71% of gold production coming from Western Australia alone. Australia’s reserves of gold as of December 2012 were estimated at 7,400t (13.7% of the global total) by the US Geological Survey.
United States of America

The United States, which accounts for 3.5% of global gold reserves, is the third largest gold producing country in the world. It produced 230t of gold in 2012, a decline by 4t from 2011. The US accounted for 8.5% of global gold production in 2012.
The gold production comes predominantly from five states – Nevada, Alaska, California, Colorado and South Dakota. More than 74% of gold is mined from Nevada alone.
Carlin Trend gold mine, operated by Newmont in Nevada, is the US’s largest gold mine, containing gold reserves of 17.83Moz.
Russia

Russia ranks as the fourth largest gold producing country. It produced 205t of gold in 2012, a 6.8% increase over 2011 production.
Russia contributed 7.6% of the global gold output in 2012.The country’s gold reserves were estimated at around 5000t as of December 2012 by US Geological Survey.
Gold producing mines in Russia are mainly located in six eastern regions – Amur, Irkutsk, Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Magadan and Sakha-Yakutia.
Olympiada mine, operated by Polyus Gold, is the largest gold producer in the country, which produced 720Koz of gold in 2011.
South Africa

Historically the largest gold producing country, South Africa currently ranks as the fifth largest. The country’s gold production in 2012 stood at 170t (6.3% of global production) compared to 190t in 2011.
The decline in gold production was due to numerous gold mine strikes during the same year.
South Africa has 35 large-scale gold mines currently in operation, including the world’s deepest mines such as Tau Tona and Mponeng. The country’s contained gold reserve as of December 2012 was estimated to be about 6,000t (11.5% of the global gold reserves).
Peru

Peru is currently the sixth largest gold producing country in the world. The country produced 165t of gold in 2012, a three percent decline over 2011 production. Peru accounted for 6.1% of global gold output in 2012.
Compania de Minas Buenaventura is the main gold-producing company in the country. Yanacocha mine is the largest gold mine in Peru. The country accounted for 4.2% of the global gold reserve as of December 2012.
Ghana

Ghana ranks as the seventh largest gold producing country in the world. The country produced 4.2Moz (119t) of gold in 2012, which was a 17% increase on 2011 production. The gold production accounts for more than 90% of the country’s total mineral output.
Ghana is the second largest African gold producing country. The country’s largest gold mine, Tarkwa is operated by Gold Fields. The US Geological Survey estimated the country’s gold reserves as of December 2012 at 1,600t, which accounts for 3.1% of the global gold reserve.
Canada

Canada is the eighth largest gold producing country, with a gold output of 102t in 2012, five percent more than in 2011. The country’s share in global gold output in 2012 was 3.8%.
The gold mines in the country are mostly located in Ontario. Goldcorp operates the Red Lake gold mine, which is the largest gold producing mine in the country. Canada held 1.8% of global gold reserve as of December 2012.
Indonesia

Indonesia ranks as the ninth largest gold producing country in the world. It produced 95t of gold in 2012, which comprises of 3.5% of the global production during the year. The country’s gold production in 2011 was 96t. The decline in gold production was due to the illegal mining and political unrest in the country.
The world’s biggest gold mine Grasberg, with an estimated gold reserve of 70.96Moz, resides in Indonesia. Freeport McMoran, Newcrest and Newmont are the major mining companies operating in the country. Indonesia contained 5.8% of the global gold reserves as of December 2012.
Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan is the tenth largest gold producing country, with a production of 90t of gold in 2012. Muruntau open pit mine, one of the largest gold mines in the world, contributes around 70% of the country’s annual gold production.
The state-owned Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Combinat (NMMC) is the dominant gold producing company in the country. There are more than 40 gold deposits in Uzbekistan. Estimated gold reserves of the country stand at 1,700t.

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Jessica Miller Jessica Miller 12 hours ago
I must agree with you. There is more gold in the Amazon rain forest and the Amazon is not even in your list.

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ervin ervin 3 hours ago
Its a Reserves, your listing is those country that already producing the gold our Gold is in Fort KNox and in President Marcos account.

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Jessica Miller Jessica Miller 12 hours ago
Not sure how those islands and keys have any metals or gold. I believe that is an error or mistake. Then my backyard must have gold too.

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Charlie Magno Charlie Magno 12 hours ago
First, government officials in that country is so corrupt. All those profits coming from mining will just benefit few select people. Second, the environment will be devastated. It is a beautiful country. After mining the country, the mountains will become barren like what is happening in the Appalachian mountains where they mine coal. The rivers will be polluted beyond repair. It will be contaminated with mercury and other toxic chemicals.

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Tibor Hegedus Tibor Hegedus 12 hours ago
doesn’t matter how much gold they got, the corrupt government will take all the profit and the poor still will be poor

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steven reyer steven reyer 12 hours ago
Please wake me up when the value of the gold reserves hits the value of Imelda Marcos’s shoes. Thankee Kindly.

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Jeffrey Bottaro Jeffrey Bottaro 11 hours ago
SOMEBODY is long on metals. As global currencies are eroded relentlessly by American-exported Keynesian monetary policies (we export little else these days), there WILL be interest in metals, especially those with UTILITARIAN as opposed to NUMISMATIC valuations. Rare Earths, copper, and key metallurgical metals have finally hit bottom; the forward outlook is rosy.

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gli 0213 gli 0213 11 hours ago
Mining can be disastrous to the environment and to the people living in the area. Remember the Marinduque Phils. Mining disaster in the 90′s? The Marcopper Mining Corporation started mining operations on Marinduque island in 1969 in what was known as the Mountain Tapian ore deposit. Copper concentrate, also containing gold and silver, was produced from the deposit.

Marcopper became a nightmare for the Philippine mining industry in 1996 when more than 2 million metric tons of tailings flooded the Boac and Makulapnit rivers from the Tapian pit operated by Marcopper Mining Corporation and the Canadian firm Placer Dome, Inc1 . As a result, thousands of residents immediately suffered isolation, hunger, thirst and disease. Fish and marine products are contaminated with toxic metals. However, coastal residents have little choice but to feed themselves with their own catch. There were various complaints of illnesses like leukemia, kidney problems, diarrhea, skin diseases, several other maladies, and even death among children and adults have been reported. But most were diagnosed as common diseases until serious toxic tests made in 1996 and indicated that high levels of heavy metals are in the blood of complaining patients.

The damaged life support system of communities along the two rivers down to the coastal areas of Calancan Bay has never recovered till now.

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seb miller seb miller 11 hours ago
as long as those greedy Chinese are not allowed to join the mining activity and other country such as America, Australia, and Canada for an example are o.k. but strictly no Chinese or Russian and middle eastern nations are not allow, these mention country name above are known thefts and will find ways to smuggle them out…

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Joseph Zinga Joseph Zinga 5 hours ago
You do not back up your statement with facts or sources…just hate.
Racism is very lowly reason to use to try to justify action.
More importantly, you deny basic economical principle that made the nations you listed wealthy in that

THEY DON’T HAVE UNNECESSARY REGULATIONS
THAT LIMIT WHO BUYS/SELLS.
THIS was a point laid out in the article, if not the main point.

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Waldo Pulanco Waldo Pulanco 9 hours ago
I think so..

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Gerhard Hocke Gerhard Hocke 8 hours ago
Clear regulation should also clarify that profits from gold and copper mining should go into the Philippine economy and not into the pockets of money hungry corrupt politicians which they are know for.

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Tim Ferguson Tim Ferguson, Forbes Staff 7 hours ago
Some interesting previous comments here. Mindanao has many question marks. Where is the $1.4 trillion figure from?

Called-out comment
Reply

Edited April 6, 2015 by Old55

[Dave Hounddriver]

If gold reserves are developed here then the rich will get richer, aided by laborers earning $20 a day and thinking they are well paid.  Either that or China will claim all of Philippines as being within 200 miles of their new island in Spratleys and thus the gold is theirs.

[Lou49]

I don'tbelieve that the Philippines holds the world's second largest gold reserves. And I can't believe someone actually said that.

[BrettGC]

I don'tbelieve that the Philippines holds the world's second largest gold reserves. And I can't believe someone actually said that.

Why?  Genuine question, I know nothing about the issue.

[Lou49]

 

I don'tbelieve that the Philippines holds the world's second largest gold reserves. And I can't believe someone actually said that.

Why?  Genuine question, I know nothing about the issue.

 

 

Think about it geographically in relative size of countries. Do u think the PI has more gold reserves than say Russia or Canada or the US ?

Edited April 6, 2015 by Lou49

[BrettGC]

Well I know Argentina is the world's largest producer of gold, closely followed by Australia, Brazil and Canada:

 

http://www.goldfacts.org/en/economic_impact/countries/

 

But as to holds the most un-mined?  I can't find any information on that.  So yeah, I'd like to know how they justify that claim. 

Edited April 6, 2015 by BrettGC

[Dave Hounddriver]

I don'tbelieve that the Philippines holds the world's second largest gold reserves. And I can't believe someone actually said that

 

Your posts got me thinking, so I went back to the article in the link and read the comments section.  Let me start by saying I think Forbes is a respected source and their articles well researched, but almost every comment was similar to yours.  Here is one comment I liked:

 

The author of this article and Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist with Banco de Oro UniBank in Metro Manila are way up in Cloud 9 about realities on the ground about mining in the Philippines. They are too naive to ignore corruption among government officials enforcing enviromental laws, notwithstanding PNoy’s Daang Patuwad. They still see as something good the plunder by foreigners of Philippine natural resources even as millions are deprived of their farmlands, fishing grounds and other sustainable sources of income. Philippine economic planners rely on foreign investors to tap the wealth beneath our feet instead of promoting local investment and developing Filipino technology to tap those resources. In Rapu-Rapu, Albay, Michael Defensor predicted in 2005 that Bicol would be “one of the richest if not the richest region in the country” in 5 years. In 2010, Bicol still ranked 3rd poorest and Rapu-Rapu remained poor at 3rd class category. In 2014, NEDA said that Bicol was “top contributor to the nation’s poor population.” STOP DECEIVING US! LEAVE OUR GOLD AND OTHER MINERALS UNDER OUR FEET UNTIL WE FILIPINOS ACQUIRE THE TECHNOLOGY TO TAP THEM WITHOUT DESTROYING OUR MOUNTAINS, RIVERS AND SEAS. OUR NATURAL RESOURCES ARE FOR US AND OUR CHILDREN’S CHILDREN, NOT FOR ALIENS!

 

Edited April 7, 2015 by Dave Hounddriver

[Old55]

You guys forget...... Yamash&ta's gold!!!  :lol:

[jpbago]

On the topic of world's largest reserves, I think that the PI has the world's largest foreign aid reserve. I read that P42 billion donated for the Yolanda relief is still sitting somewhere until, well, until it is dispersed or disappears.