The Philippines’ Board of Investments (BOI) has said that the country’s nickel sector can realistically support only two or three processing plants under current production levels, as reported by BusinessWorld.
Speaking at a regional sovereign wealth fund mining forum earlier this week, BOI Executive Director Maria Corazon Halili-Dichosa cautioned against approving excessive processing projects until more mines enter development.
“We cannot have so many mineral processing projects,” Halili-Dichosa said.
“For example, for current feedstock, [even with] all the mining companies operating, it’s good for two to three nickel processing plants.
“You’ll need more nickel ore or new mining tenements operating to support [more] viable nickel processing facilities; so, that’s how we see it.”
Halili-Dichosa pointed out that domestic processing of copper remains BOI’s priority. However, she cited the Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining (PASAR) facility in the country’s Leyte province as a cautionary precedent after it laid off its workforce and became dormant in 2025.
“Even when PASAR was there, our copper [ore] was still being exported. It wasn’t going to PASAR, right? So those are the disconnected [links] in the supply chain that hopefully we can also resolve,” she said.
“Nevertheless, we really need to have processing facilities when the new mining tenements are operated. That’s what we want to happen.”
The BOI is awaiting streamlined regulations from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) to facilitate processing investment.
The MGB has been directed to establish an online one-stop shop to digitise mining permitting, taking cues from expedited green-lane approvals in the renewable energy sector.
Under Executive Order 122, the National Policy Framework for Developing the Critical Minerals Industry identified 9 million hectares of land prospective for critical minerals, though only 3% has undergone development.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
Main image: Amnesty International
