DENR eyeing to develop 3 nickel processing plants under Marcos admin

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is targeting to develop at least three nickel processing plants in the country before the term of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ends.

“I think there should be at least one more in the Surigao area, the Caraga region as a whole, of course, Zambales, and then another in Palawan,” DENR Undersecretary for Environment and Integrated Science Carlos Primo David said at the sidelines of the Mining Philippines 2023 International Conference and Exhibition organized by the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) on Tuesday.

Currently, there are only two nickel processing plants in the Philippines, operated by nickel ore producer giant Nickel Asia Corp.

Nickel Asia operates Coral Bay and Taganito high-pressure acid leach (HPAL) plants located in Palawan and Surigao del Norte, respectively.

“There’s a rough timeline, definitely within this administration. We should add to the two existing processing plants that we have for nickel,” David said.

Data from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) showed nickel is the main contributor to the total metallic mineral production in the first semester of 2023 which amounted to P123.07 billion, up 8.06%.

Nickel and nickel products’ contribution to the total stood at P57.32 billion or 46.57%. —VAL, GMA Integrated News