A business delegation composed of at least 20 Australian mining companies will come to the Philippines in the second half of 2025 to explore opportunities amid renewed interest among foreign investors in the extractive sector.

"There will always be plenty of business missions [from Australia]. We are, in fact, organizing a mining business mission," outgoing Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Hae Kyong (HK) Yu told reporters on the sidelines of the Philippines-Australia Friendship Festival on Saturday, June 7.

This will be a follow-through to the four Australian business missions brought to the Philippines in the past over one year, Yu said.

While the upcoming mining delegation is still in the works, Yu said she expects about 20 to 30 Australian firms to participate, similar to the number of companies in the previous business missions.

While Yu did not name specific Australian miners, she said industry bodies Down Under have an "enormous amount of interest" in the Philippines."

The ambassador noted that the ban on new mining agreements was lifted only recently—in 2021, under Executive Order (EO) No. 130 signed by former President Rodrigo Duterte. Some local government units (LGUs), however, still impose their own mining moratoriums.

"As soon as the [national mining] moratorium was lifted, the Australian Embassy has been very active in pursuing these relationships," Yu said.

She said that while interest in the Philippines' mining industry may not just be coming from Australian companies but from all over the globe, "Australia has a particular interest in it, because we are good at mining."

"We have a track record in showing the Philippines how mining can be done—so that it's sustainable, it's actually responsible, and the profits are shared with the community and with the country."

Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC), which manages the Philippines' first sovereign wealth fund (SWF), earlier said that SWFs abroad are also eyeing the Philippines' mining sector.

MIC President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rafael D. Consing Jr. told Manila Bulletin last month that as an SWF "near Asia" is keenly looking into the country's extractive space, MIC could serve as a vehicle for mining co-investments.

MIC could also be a platform to consolidate a pipeline of all viable mining developments in the country, which may likewise be offered to other SWFs and other interested parties for co-investments, according to Consing.

The MIC chief sees mining as potentially emerging as the Philippine economy's fifth pillar, after semiconductor and electronics exports, overseas Filipino workers' (OFWs) remittances, business process outsourcing (BPO), and tourism.

But Consing had noted that despite the Philippines claiming to be the fifth most mineralized country in the world, the mining industry only contributed a "disproportionate" less than one percent to gross domestic product (GDP).

To date, MIC is venturing into mining through a forthcoming $76.4-million bridge loan to Makilala Mining Co. Inc., which plans to kick-start early development works for the Maalinao-Caigutan-Biyog (MCB) copper-gold project in Kalinga province.

While Consing did not provide details, as the project's foreign partners are listed firms in the Australian and London stock markets, he had said MIC underwent "exceptional due diligence" to ensure that the upcoming venture not only has significant economic potential but also responsible design.