Investors have expressed interest in establishing mineral processing plants in the Philippines, said Ceferino Rodolfo, the Department of Trade and Industry Undersecretary and Managing Head of the Board of Investments, said on Friday, as reported by Manilatimes.net.
In an interview with reporters on the same day during a mining event, he said three of these facilities plants will be established during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s term.
"If you look at the high-pressure acid leach (HPAL) facilities at Indonesia, it takes two years to construct and operate.... And I think that is doable as this is a whole-of-government approach," said Rodolfo.
He added that there are three areas in the Philippines that investors are looking into.
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"As I said before, there are several interested parties who want to put up HPAL facilities here in the Philippines, and they are looking at areas like Zambales, Surigao, and Palawan and they have a minimum investment of around $3 to $5 billion," said Rodolfo.
"There have been ongoing discussions between companies and increasingly, other parties have been showing interest as well because of geopolitics and the supply of proven reserves is finite and every related party wants a certain and secure supply chain," he added.
Rodolfo did not disclose the countries where the three interested parties come from, but said there are several that have shown interest.
"In general, the countries that are interested are China, Australia, America, Japan and South Korea," he said.
Rodolfo said that once the HPAL facilities are completed and operational, the potential value of nickel in the Philippines would increase 20 times.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak
