THE Philippine mineral sector enjoyed a bull run with production value increasing by almost a third in the first six months of this year, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) said on Monday.
In a report to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, MGB said the production value of the country’s mineral industry increased by 31 percent to P63.92 billion this year from P48.73 billion a year ago.
The agency attributed the positive performance to the “steady improvement” of metal prices in the world market, as well as the increased mine output of gold, silver, copper, nickel and zinc producers.
In terms of price percentage growth, silver registered the highest increase—almost doubling the first semester 2010 average with a 99.23 percent gain from $17.61 per troy ounce to $35.08 per troy ounce this year.
It was closely followed by copper with 33.07 percent from $3.21 per pound to $4.26 per pound, while gold grew 26.18 percent from $1,146.12 per troy ounce to $1,446.23 per troy ounce. Nickel increased 21.96 percent from $9.53 per pound to $11.62 per pound.
The bureau said the gold subsector remains “the king” of the metals sector, accounting for 66.13 percent, or P42.18 billion of the country’s total production.
“The stellar showing was stimulated by the awe-inspiring price growths of the yellow metal in the international market,” MGB said.
The nickel subsector contributed 17.25 percent, or P11 billion, while copper handed in 14.42 percent, or P9.19 billion.
The three remaining sub-sectors–silver, chromite and zinc—turned in a 2.20-percent share, or P1.41 billion.
Despite the robust output, MGB said the global outlook for metals was mixed, citing the fragile state of many economies worldwide.
Experts foresee gold to hit new heights after Standard and Poor’s downgraded the US credit rating from AAA to AA+.
This was followed by the strong demand from India and China and further complicated by the impact of the debt crisis in Europe.
“Gold and silver, being precious metals, are forecast to perform very well playing up their role to the fullest as safe haven for investment. Some experts were even daring to project that gold could go as high as $2,000 per ounce before the end of the year,” MGB said.
“Gold is often viewed as a valuable alternative investment to paper currencies and a store of wealth during challenging economic times,” the bureau said.
Base metals, however, may suffer the wrath brought about by the economic slowdown as said metals thrive on the degree of economic activities across the globe.
