Albay province leads in the production of metallic minerals while Camarines Norte in non-metallic minerals in Bicol for the year 2009 valued at P2,424,934,601.34 and P21,728,191.25, respectively, records at the Bicol Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) showed.In metallic production, Albay is followed by Masbate with P2,197,935,207.43 and Camarines Norte with P31,948,615.54.

Albay produced 26,617.43 dry metallic tons (DMT) of Copper concentrates valued at P1,026,329,940.38, 715.09 kilograms (Kg) of Gold (by product of Copper) worth P812,327,417.17, 9,527.26 kg of Silver (by product of Copper) worth P162,027,702.14 and 21,675.50 DMT of Zinc Concentrate worth P424,249,541.65; Masbate produced 2,286.28 kg of Gold worth P2,174,126,098.96 and 1,536-53 kg of Silver worth P23,809,108.47 and Camarines Norte, 24.51 kg of Gold valued at P30,886,664.90 and 52.12 kg of Silver worth P1,061,950.64.

Camarines Norte, the leading producer of non-metallic minerals, is closely followed by Albay with P18,784,511.00, Camarines Sur with P11,397,075.20, Masbate with P3,536,125.00, Catanduanes with P1,720,750.00 and Sorsogon with P316,380.00.

Records showed that Camarines Norte total production of ball clay is 6,425 metric tons (MT) valued at P2,570,000.00, decorative stone (12.50 MT) – P5,000.00, Kaolin clay (5,945.oo MT) – P2,378,000.00, sand and gravel (90,842.55 cubic meters) – P6,813,191.25, Silica sand (930 MT) worth P372,000.00, Silica Quarts (20 MT) – P8,000.00, white clay/Kaolin/Silica sand/Quartz (5,440 MT) worth P9,084,800.00, and white clay (960 MT) – P 384,000.00.

On the other hand, Albay has produced Bentonite (1,500 cu.m.) ? P300,000.00, boulder (28,148.00 cu.m.) worth P1,212,389.00, earth fill (21,100 cu.m.) worth P600,929.00, limestone (175,000 cu.m.) worth P8,050,000.00, perlite (500 cu.m.) worth P102,000.00, perlite (8,253.20 MT) worth P1,856,700.00, pebbles (50 cu.m.) worth P12,500.00, sand and gravel (144,118 cu.m.) worth 6,129,468.00, selected aggregates (3,950 cu.m.) worth P136,125.00, selected stone (100 cu.m.) 0 P25,000.00, shale clay (14,100 MT) worth P150,900.00 and white sand (7,000 cu.m.) worth P208,500.00.

Camarines Sur, meanwhile, has extracted ball clay (2,416 MT) ? P1,210,745.20, earth fill (6,516 cu.m.) worth P264,750.00, perlite (5,820.80 MT) worth P6,045,600.00, sand and gravel (21,361.50 cu.m.) worth P3,748,980.00 and Woodstone and Greenslate (234 MT^) worth P127,000.00; Masbate, boulders (280 cu.m.) worth P28,000.00, earth fill (7,713 cu.m.) worth P2,588,275.00, pebbles (11 cu.m.) ? P1,100.00 and sand and gravel (9,235 cu.m.) worth P918,750.00. In Catanduanes, quarried sand and gravel (68,831 cu.m.) worth P1,720,750.00, while in Sorsogon, pumice (792 MT) worth P277,200.00 and sand and gravel (1,346 cu.m.) worth P39,180.00.

In terms of contribution to over-all mineral production, the total metallic production of Albay, Masbate and Camarines Norte totaled P4,654,818,424.31 or 98.80 percent while non-metallic at P57,483,032.45 or 1.22 percent.

By province, for metallic:

Albay – 51.46 percent
Masbate – 46.64 percent
Camarines Norte – 0.68 percent

For non-metallic:

Camarines Norte – 0.46 percent
Albay – 0.40 percent
Camarines Sur – 0.24 percent
Masbate – 0.08 percent
Catanduanes – 0.04 percent
Sorsogon – 0.01 percent. (MGB V/PIA)

Source: Philippine Information Agency