Mineral Wealth

Minerals, both metallic and nonmetallic, abound in our country as well. We have rich mines producing gold, copper, manganese, mercury, nickel, lead, paladium, platinum, iron, silver, and zinc. Our non metallic minerals include coal, barite, clay, diatomite, felspar, limestone, mica, silica, magnesite, sulphur, talc, adobe, marble, gravel and sand, mineral oil(petroleum), natural gas, and rock asphalt.

The Philippines is among those with the riches gold mines in Southeast Asia. The Mountain Province, Masbate, and Mindanao are the leading sources of gold in the country. The best known copper-producing areas in the archipelago are Cebu, the Mountain Province, Albay, Negros, Samar and Zambales. Rich iron ore deposites are also found in Bulacan, Camarines Norte, Marinduque, and Samar. Chromite, Manganese, lead and zinc abound in the provinces of Zambales. Masbate, Ilocos Norte, Pangasinan and Antique. Surigao del Norte has one of the world's richest nickel deposits, while Zambales is the site of the world's biggest deposit of high-quality chromite.

The Philippines is still to produce enough petrochemical oil- or petroleum-- to meet its needs, but it can. The provinces believed by mining engineers to contain oil in commercial quantities are Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Masbate, Leyte, Samar, Cagayan and the coastal areas of Mindanao and Sulu archipelago. Coal, an important mineral for fuel abounds in Mindoro Masbate, Cebu, Sorsogon, and some parts of Mindanao.

Natural asphalt, extensively used in road-building, abounds in Leyte, Asbestos exists in Ilocos Norte and Zambales, although this mineral has been abandoned because it has been found to cause cancer. Laguna, Rizal, Camarines Sur, and Pampanga abound in stone, gravel and sand, clay and cement. There are rich marble deposits in Mindoro, Romblon, and Palawan. Sulphur deposits exists in Camiguin Island, Cagayan, Leyte, Negros Occidental, Davao, and Mountain Province.