Extracting Value, Losing Ground: The Critical Minerals Boom in Palawan
Mining extraction, uplands of Palawan | Photo: Jonah van Beijnen, used with permission to New Mandala
In an article by New Mandala, Dorothy Mason, Wolfram Dressler, and Dario Novellino assert that despite a 2025 moratorium on mining that halts new permits to mine ‘critical’ minerals in the island province, local Indigenous peoples and biodiversity remain under grave threat from existing permit holders grandfathered out of the ban.
As the world transitions away from fossil fuels, patterns of resource extraction and violence are intensifying globally amid skyrocketing demand for the “critical minerals”—including cobalt, lithium, manganese and copper—essential to renewable energy technologies. In particular, the electric vehicle (EV) market is generating unprecedented demand for nickel, valued for extending driving range. By 2030, global demand for nickel is projected to triple.
The Philippines is positioned to capitalise on this surge. As the world’s top exporter of nickel ore and the second largest producer after Indonesia, it supplies a substantial share of the global market. Together, the two countries account for 60% of global supply. China, the largest EV market globally, is the Philippines’ biggest buyer, importing over US$1 billion worth of nickel to China in 2023 alone.
Under President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., the Philippines is doubling down on mining as a pillar of its “transition economy”. Earlier this year, Marcos announced plans to reform the Philippine Mining Act to fast-track permits and attract foreign investment. The stakes are high: the country holds an estimated $1 trillion worth of copper, gold, nickel, zinc and silver reserves, only 3% per cent of which is currently under mining contracts.
