Part 1: Nickel potentials and Palawan
PROVINCES & PROSPERITY
Bienvenido S. Oplas Jr.
April 30, 2026
https://palawan-news.com/part-1-nickel-potentials-and-palawan/
Nickel is a good and versatile metal, corrosion-resistant used to produce stainless steel, batteries of electric vehicles (EV), superalloys, plating and many more. Nickel enhances strength, durability, and heat resistance in alloys for aerospace, construction, and electronics.
Global sources of nickel
The Philippines is the second largest producer of nickel ore in the world after Indonesia, with output of 330,000 tons in 2024. The country’s estimated value of nickel deposit is $170 billion from its 4.8 million tons of proven reserves.
The reserves/production (R/P) ratio, or the number of years that the reserves will be depleted assuming the annual production remains the same, is only 15 years for the Philippines, 25 years for Indonesia, 218 years for Canada and 38 years worldwide average (see table 1).
The Philippines exported 54 million wet metric tons of nickel in 2024, 92% raw, unprocessed ore with export value of P94.2 billion ($1.59 billion), second only to gold exports value. Some 81% of our nickel exports went to China and the balance of 19% went to Indonesia. China is the number 1 EV producer in the world now.
Philippines nickel reserves, CARAGA and Palawan
Philippine nickel deposits are of the laterite type — nickel-bearing soils derived from tropical weathering of ultramafic rock near the surface — and are extracted by open-pit, direct-shipping methods. These are concentrated in two major production zones, CARAGA region and Palawan with smaller deposits in Zambales (Luzon) and Tawi-Tawi.
Caraga Region, the nickel production heartland
Caraga region in northeastern Mindanao is often called the “mining capital of the Philippines.” It hosts 26 operating metallic mines, 23 of which are nickel. The two largest Philippine nickel companies, Nickel Asia Corporation (NAC) and Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc. are both headquartered in Surigao del Norte.
The three provinces of Caraga in particular:
– Dinagat Islands, with 10 active mines covering 24,221 hectares; declared a mineral reserve since 1939.
– Surigao del Sur, with six active mines covering 17,614 hectares (Carrascal-Claver corridor).
– Surigao del Norte, which hosts the Surigao Mineral Reservation (250,000 ha), containing an estimated 677 million metric tons of nickel-bearing laterite.
Palawan, high-grade deposits
Palawan is the westernmost major island of the Philippines and holds 11 active mines, three of which are large-scale nickel operations spanning four municipalities in the island’s southern end. Key operations include:
Rio Tuba (Bataraza), operated by NAC. One of the oldest and largest nickel mines in the Philippines, in production since 1969. Reserve is 60.2 million MT at 1.27% Ni.
Ipilan (Brooke’s Point), operated by Ipilan Nickel Corporation (Global Ferronickel affiliate). Maiden shipment in September 2022. Resource: ~80 million WMT, targeting 1.5–3.0 million WMT/year.
Berong (Quezon), Operated by Berong Nickel Corporation. The largest single nickel ore deposit by area in the Philippines is found in Barangay Berong, Quezon, southern Palawan.
(To be continued)
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See also:
PN 2, Ho Chi Minh and Puerto Princesa, some observations, April 03, 2026
PN 3, Coal plants in Luzon and Palawan, May 04, 2026
PN 4, Coal plants in Visayas-Mindanao and Palawan, May 16, 2026
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