Iloilo City – Non-metallic commodities production value increased in 2022 vis-à-vis 2021 from PhP628.37 million to P847.99 million, a growth of PhP219.62 million or 74%. This growth is attributed to the steadily increasing demand for aggregate construction materials such as sand and gravel, ordinary earth, basalt, limestone, and waste materials. Non-metallic production from quarrying continues to be the resource base of the mining industry in Region 6 considering that there are no large-scale and metallic mines operations
In terms of its contribution to the economy, the quarrying industry noted a decrease in revenues collected and employment with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. However, it slowly recovered in 2021 and gained momentum in 2022 with PhP 6.14 million in revenues collected in 2021 to PhP112.12 million in 2022. Occupation fees paid by permit holders also showed a dramatic increase from PhP0.41 million in 2021 to PhP 1.68 million in 2022.
At the same time, the number of individuals employed by mining companies and permittees for both MGB-issued and LGU-issued permits increase from 1,123 to 2,178 in the last two years.
Since the closure of two large-scale metallic mines in southern Negros Occidental early in 2000, the areas covered by MGB-approved mining tenements remain at 1.82% of the total land area or 36,778.6768 hectares. These are exploration permits, mineral production sharing agreements and industrial sand and gravel or SAG permit covering more than five hectares. (MGB VI, DENR)