MANILA – The total monetary value of Class A gold, copper, nickel, and chromite reserves went up by 22 percent last year, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.
In a report on Thursday, the PSA said the total monetary value of Class A gold, copper, nickel and chromite reserves amounted to PHP491.19 billion in 2022 from PHP402.73 billion in 2021.
The United Nations Framework of Classification (UNFC) 2009 defines class A reserves as "commercially recoverable mineral resources which are confirmed to be economically viable by a defined development project or operation."
The PSA said class A gold reserves were valued at PHP183.32 billion, up by 20.5 percent from PHP152.09 billion in 2021.
The total value of class A copper, meanwhile, amounted to PHP59.43 billion, higher by 23.3 percent from PHP48.20 billion in 2021.
Class A nickel reserves were valued at PHP246.25 from PHP201.95 billion in 2021.
The value of Class A chromite reserves was registered at PHP2.20 billion in 2022, a huge increase from the PHP479.69 million in 2021.
The PSA said stocks of class A gold reserves in the country declined to 625,000 kilograms in 2022 from 646,000 kilograms in 2021.
"The production of gold reserves, however, increased by 21.5 percent from 17 thousand kilograms in 2021 to 21.40 thousand kilograms in 2022," it said.
Class A copper reserves, on the other hand, also decreased to 165.98 million metric tons in 2022 from 166.04 million metric tons in 2021.
The recorded production of copper reserves went up to 59,000 kilograms in 2022 or by 15.4 percent from 51,000 kilograms in 2021.
The PSA said the metal content of gold and copper reserves and resources were accounted in the mineral accounts.
Meanwhile, the country’s Class A nickel reserves were recorded at 557.86 million metric tons in 2022, down by 3.2 percent from 576.38 million metric tons in 2021.
The PSA said the decline in nickel reserves was accompanied by a reduction in production from 32.93 million metric tons in 2021 to 28.96 million in 2022.
Class A chromite reserves also went down by 0.2 percent from 35.97 million metric tons in 2021 to 35.89 million metric tons in 2022, it said.
The production of Class A chromite reserves, however, went up by more than four-fold from 17,000 metric tons in 2021 to 77,000 metric tons in 2022. (PNA)
