Gov’t got lower mining royalties in H1

Mining firms remitted to the national coffers P763.7 million in royalties in the first half of 2015, which was just about a quarter of the P2.69 billion paid in 2014.

According to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), the royalties collected represents 5 percent of the market value of the gross output of the minerals produced from government-declared mineral reservation areas last year.

These mines include those in Zambales, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur and Dinagat Islands.

Mineral producers in reservation areas pay the 5-percent royalty on top of a 2-percent excise tax.

The MGB said that under the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, 10 percent of the royalties was earmarked for the bureau’s “special projects and other administrative expenses related to the exploration and development of other mineral reservations.”

The Treasury and local governments that host the mines share the remainder, with 60 percent going to the former and 40 percent to the latter.

The MGB’s finance division said that in the first semester, the share of local governments hosting mining projects in the reservation amounted to P274.92 million.

MGB director Leo L. Jasareno said that based on available data so far, royalties collected might have increased year-on-year considering that the value of metallic minerals produced rose.

In the first half of this year, royalties represented 5 percent of the value of gross output of minerals.

Under the Mining Act, a tenth of the royalties collected is earmarked to the MGB for “special projects and other administrative expenses related to the exploration and development of other mineral reservations.” The rest goes to the National Treasury and host LGUs.