Philippines sees sharp increase in copper and gold production
Filed under: Mine - RapuRapu, Mineral - Copper, Mineral - Gold, Mineral - Silver, Mineral - Tin, Mineral - Zinc, Operator - Lafayette, Operator - RRMI, Operator - RRPI, Operator - RapuRapu Mining, Region 05 - Masbate
Manila: Philippine copper output is expected to rise 85 per cent this year and gold output by 16 per cent due to the opening of new mines funded by foreigners, Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes said yesterday.
“Our projections show that, indeed, the Philippine mining industry is facing a major take-off in the next two to three years as five of the world’s largest mining players are now in the country doing exploration and mining development,” Reyes said.
The government wants to attract $6.5 billion in foreign funding for 24 priority mining projects to revive its once mighty minerals industry and stoke econ-omic growth.
Their investment campaign was knocked off course in late-2005 and 2006 after cyanide leaks in a copper and gold mine belonging to Australia’s Lafayette Mining triggered the wrath of environmentalists and powerful Catholic bishops.
Leave a Reply
Please note that your comments will be subject to moderation by the PMEA Blog Administrator.