Irresponsible Mining Firms Drive Movement to Nationalize Industry

President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines has expressed a desire to amend laws such that the government and licensed foreign mining firms share up to sixty percent of the profits. This proposed change to the Mining Act of 1995, which originally just allowed foreign ownership of mining assets in the Philippines, comes as part of Duterte’s plan to nationalize the mining industry, per a Philippine congressman.

The sentiment follows the Philippine government’s closing a total of thirty mining companies in the past couple of years due to environmental infractions. The most recent closures occurred just last week, when twenty companies, who accounted for more than half of the country’s nickel production, were asked to stop operating. The eleven companies that have been allowed to continue operation represent a quarter of the world’s nickel production.

Some miners, however, credit the closures to biased audit teams comprised of anti-mining activists. The suspensions in this case would be less due to actual environmental recklessness and actually based on opinion not present in Philippine law. (see: http://www.reuters.com/article/philippines-mining-audit-idUSL3N1BR1NK )