Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP), which is composed of the country’s biggest miners, will contest the order of Environment Secretary Gina Lopez to impose additional trust fund for suspended mining companies.

Environment Secretary Gina Lopez has called out Finance Secretary Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez for trying to “usurp” her powers through the creation of the Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC).

Indonesia's state-owned miner Aneka Tambang (Antam) ANTM.JK has been granted an initial approval to export up to 2.7 million tonnes of nickel ore over the next 12 months, a mining ministry official said on Wednesday.

Mines shared by Tianma Group and Dinagat has been exploited comprehensively, with 130,000mt mines in the storage yard already. Port finishes extending and is capable of shipping.

The Philippines’ environment ministry has allowed eight suspended nickel ore miners to ship out stockpiles of mined ore, sources told Reuters, temporarily boosting supply from the world’s top exporter of the raw metal after a major crackdown.

The first lot of imported nickel ore by Tianma International Trading Co.,Ltd from Philippine is about to load in the beginning of April and arrive in China in mid-April.

The Philippine environment minister has asked President Rodrigo Duterte to halt a second review of 28 mines that she ordered closed or suspended, challenging its legality despite initially supporting it.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is looking at the possibility of banning the export of raw minerals in order to develop the country’s metals and mining downstream industries.