The Mineral Accounts of the Philippines aims to provide information on the stocks and changes in stocks of four metallic mineral resources in the country, namely: nickel, copper, chromite, and gold. These accounts allow for the monitoring of the sustainability of the extraction of these valuable yet depletable natural assets. The compilation adheres the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting 2012 Central Framework (SEEA-CF).

Monetary Asset Accounts
The valuation of the mineral assets of the Philippines uses the Net Present Value Approach as recommended by SEEA-CF using a 10 percent discount rate¹.

The total monetary value of Class A nickel, copper, chromite, and gold resources reached PhP 296.28 billion. This is a 4.7 percent decrease from the PhP 310.79 billion recorded value in 2013. Class A nickel resources decreased in monetary value from PhP 166.32 billion in 2013 to PhP 136.61 billion in 2020, while Class A copper resources decreased from PhP 63.36 billion in 2013 to PhP 25.84 billion in 2020. During the 8-year period, the monetary value of Class A chromite resources has fluctuated. It increased from PhP 654.73 million in 2013 to PhP 1.11 billion in 2020. Meanwhile, the monetary value of Class A gold resources increased from PhP 80.46 billion in 2013 to PhP 132.72 billion in 2020. (Tables 1.6, 2.6, 3.6, and 4.6)

The total resource rent² of the four mineral resources contributed 0.2 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Philippines in 2020, amounting to PhP 30.46 billion. (Tables 5.1 and 5.2)

Physical Asset Accounts
The Class A nickel resources of the Philippines has decreased from 1.08 billion metric tons (MT) in 2013 to 810.12 million MT in 2020. On the other hand, the Class A copper resources in the country increased from 9.11 million MT in 2013 to 134.10 million MT in 2020. The Class A chromite resources also increased from 4.17 million MT in 2013 to 81.18 million MT in 2020. However, the Class A gold resources decreased from 566.23 thousand kilograms (kg) in 2013 to 512.47 thousand kg in 2020. Class A resources are commercially recoverable mineral resources which are confirmed to be economically viable by a defined development project or operation³.  (Tables 1.2, 2.2, 3.2, and 4.2)

DENNIS S. MAPA, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General

¹   Recommended by National Economic and Development Authority. https://www.neda.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Revisions-on-ICC-Guid...

²   Resource rent = Net operating surplus – Return to produced assets – Interest expense

³   United Nations Framework of Classification (UNFC) 2009