The Gakara mine holds some high-grade rare earth elements, some of which are expected to become essential for the manufacturing of batteries, magnets and electric vehicles.
Marmato underground gold mine is expected to have a minimum 12-year productive life, generating over 1.5 million ounces of the precious metal during that time.
Mining ihas been one of the last sectors to use a surge in computer processing power, cloud data storage and complex algorithms to make sense of huge amounts of scattered information - routine in today’s retail and manufacturing businesses.
Roy Cimatu, who replaced ousted ecologist Regina Lopez in May, has said he would review evidence brought forward by mining companies and communities before deciding whether to keep, modify, or reverse his predecessor's measures.
The country's chamber of mines and the ministry are locked in a number of legal disputes over the mining charter, which aims to increase black ownership and participation in the industry as part of a government drive to overcome apartheid's legacies.