Government to issue guidelines for faster mining permits in Philippines

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The government is expected to issue the guidelines for streamlining the processing of mining permits within the year.

'Definitely within the year,' Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go told reporters at the recentPhilippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry's general membership meeting, when asked when the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is expected to come out with the guidelines.

He said the government is aiming to encourage investments in mining by reducing the processing time to get exploration permits.

He also said the government is looking to follow the roadmap Indonesia has taken for downstream nickel processing.

The Philippines is the number one nickel ore exporter in the world, but it is exporting the raw material without processing it.

'So our goal is to go downstream and start processing the nickel to enhance the value (of the nickel) that we export,' Go said.

He said processed nickel has about 10 times the value of raw ore.

With nickel and copper being the main ingredients in electric batteries, the government is looking to attract investments in nickel processing, copper processing, as well as the manufacture of electric batteries to electric vehicles.

'We will probably get to electric vehicles far beyond my term. But again, it's important that we lay the foundation now,' Go said.

He said there are many foreign firms interested in mining exploration opportunities in the Philippines.

'We have a lot of potential,' he said.

The DENR is working on streamlining the permitting process for mining as part of efforts to encourage investments.

Earlier, the Philippine Nickel Industry Association, the country's largest umbrella group of nickel producers, said a one-stop shop would significantly cut the processing time of permits to just six months to one year from the current five to 10 years.