The Pujada Nickel Project and the Nickel Mining Industry

Nickel is a chemical element and a transition metal. It is mostly used for high-grade steel manufacturing, and increasingly so, in batteries. Global production of nickel from mines was estimated to amount to a total of 2.5 million metric tons in 2020. The major countries in nickel mining include Indonesia, Philippines, Russia, and New Caledonia. Indonesia is also the country with the largest reserves of nickel, followed by Australia and Brazil. Interestingly, nickel reserves are among the metals and minerals with the least remaining life years, however, because nickel is a highly recyclable material, this poses less of a problem. 370,000 metric tons of nickel was mined in the Philippines in 2021. In the indicated period, nickel production in the Southeast Asian nation peaked in 2015 at 554,000 metric tons. Among the different nickel companies in the Philippines, the Pujada Nickel Project is located in Barangays of Macambol and Cabuaya, City of Mati, Davao Oriental; it is a 175 kilometer drive from Davao City on a well- paved road to Mati City. The project is in the northeastern part of Pujada Peninsula.

As early as 1950, looking to further boost the Philippine mining industry, exploration activities were already undertaken in the Pujada Nickel Project by the Philippine Bureau of Mines (now Mines and Geosciences Bureau).

Considered one of the more eminent mining operations in the Philippines, Austral-Asia Link Mining Corporation (AALMC) and Hallmark Mining Corporation (HMC) are both local companies under the management of Asiaticus Management Corporation (AMCOR) that holds control of the Pujada Nickel Project. The two companies initially hold seven (7) approved Mineral Production Sharing Agreements issued by the government of the Republic of the Philippines on June 2004 and 2005. These 

MPSAs were later consolidated into one on December 2015. The said MPSA grants to the mining company the right of ingress and egress over the area for twenty five (25) years renewable for the same period.

Along with AALMC and HMC’s mission, the commitment to care for the environment and host community is of primary importance. The company furthermore promotes a safe- working environment and have been awarded as the Safest Exploration in the country for several years. As a testament to the company’s unwavering effort towards quality and environmental stewardship, Certification International Philippines (CIP) granted the ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certification for the 2nd Stage Audit done last September 28 to 30, 2021.

The Pujada Nickel project is expected to help boost the government program in seizing the increasing unemployment in the country through the alleviation of poverty. Hallmark Mining Corporation is already coordinating with the Local Government, Mines and Geosciences Bureau, and other Government Agencies concerned, in the formulation of programs and projects to enhance progress, through the alternative livelihood that the project could offer. This will result in revitalizing the commerce as a collateral effect of the circulation of salaries, wages, and payment of goods and services at all levels, triggering sustainable livelihood.

The host environment of the project in the Pujada Peninsula is one of the trickier environments to conduct mining operations in the Philippines. The higher elevation which area is already excised of the final mining area, is part of the Mt. Hamiguitan Protected Landscape through a law under Republic Act # 9303, while in the sea portion which might be affected by the mining operation is near the Pujada Protected Seascape. As a responsible Philippine mining company and to ensure that the mining operation will be compliant to Philippine environmental standards, the nickel company and Pujada Nickel Project have secured an ECC and formulated an Environmental Protection and Enhancement Program (EPEP) for the life-of-mine (LOM) of the mining operation to address environmental concerns that might be generated by the mining operation.

Nickel company Austral-Asia Link Mining Corporation and Hallmark Mining Corporation thru its Pujada Nickel Project have been key partners in major community development projects and services since exploration phase up to the present. The nickel company aggressively mobilized resources in partnership with various stakeholders to help create livable mining host and neighboring communities where people live decent quality lives in manners consistent with the principles of people empowerment and sustainable development. This initiative has been recognized by DENR and by the company’s peers in the Philippine mining industry.

In 2021 the government resumed mining operations in the Philippines after a 4-year ban. Hopeful about the future, the Wilfredo Moncano, the director of the mines and geosciences bureau said nine prospective mining projects stand to benefit from the order and that the government could generate up to 80 billion pesos ($1.6 billion) in taxes and royalties annually once commercial operations begin. The Philippine mining industry welcomed the decision to lift the ban, saying it “will enable the industry to contribute more to our country’s economic recovery”.

Source: philippinenickel.org, statista, hallmark mining corporation