Nickel mining operations across four unspecified sites in the Philippines' Tawi-Tawi region will be halted indefinitely to facilitate the implementation of the country's Bangsamoro Responsible Mining law, Environment, Natural Resources and Energy Minister Abdulraof Abdul Macacua said on Monday September 16.
The suspension will further reduce the country's declining nickel output, which fell by 16.6% year on year in 2018 to 19.5 million tonnes. The southern Philippines region was responsible for 90% of the 2.66 million wet metric tonnes (wmt) of high-grade nickel ore exported to China in the first half of 2018 and accounted for 27% of the total 15.8 million wmt of nickel ore exported there over the same period. The Bangsamoro Responsible Mining law aims to regulate the Philippines mining industry to ensure it operates to the benefit of the local environment as well as making social contributions. The mining suspensions are part of a mining audit of compliance of environmental regulations The suspension comes shortly after the country's main...