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Manila seen attracting $1 bln in mining investments

MANILA, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The Philippines is likely to attract an additional $1 billion in mining investments in the next two years as foreign players remain keen to either re-open or develop new seams, a top industry official said on Tuesday.
Benjamin Philip Romualdez, president of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, said his projections were on top of $514 million already invested, mainly by foreign firms, in 24 projects identified as high priority by the government since 2004.

The Philippines, which the government claims has $1 trillion worth of unexplored gold, copper and nickel, has been promoting these projects, arguing that they need funding of at least $6.5 billion.

Romualdez told reporters that the mining sector could eventually rival overseas remittances for its economic contribution to the Philippines.

"I personally feel that if we were to operate the identified mines, the sector could rival the OFW (overseas Filipino workers) remittances," he said.

Overseas workers sent home $10.7 billion in 2005, equivalent to about 10 percent of gross domestic product.
In contrast, the Philippine minerals sector produced 50 billion pesos ($1 billion) worth of metals in 2005.

"This is not a pipe dream," Romualdez said. "All the big boys are back in the Philippines."

Big foreign firms that have either taken stakes or have expressed interest in investing in the country include Swiss-based miner Xstrata Pld , Anglo American Pld. , Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton .

Romualdez said that of the 24 priority projects being promoted by the government, 5 are already in operation, 2 are under construction, while 8 are in their final feasibility and financing stages.

He said fresh investments in the next two years will include a $285 million expansion of a Japanese-owned nickel refinery on Palawan island and the $171 million needed to restart Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp.'s copper mine in the central Philippines.

Romualdez said two cyanide spills at a copper mine belonging to Australian firm Lafayette Mining Ltd. last year "caused a black eye in the industry's advocacy for responsible mining."

He said the accident also put a six-month brake on the industry as environmentalists and the Catholic Church intensified their opposition against foreign investments in local mines.

$1=49.72 pesos

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/061219/3/2um4w.html