The United States is looking to deepen the Philippines' role in critical minerals supply chains by giving the country access to American expertise in geospatial technology for locating mineral deposits, mine automation, and improved ore yields, a US Embassy official said.

Gregg Harris, senior commercial officer at the US Embassy, said Washington is open to deeper critical minerals collaboration with the Philippines.

"Our vision is a deeper commercial relationship in which Philippine mining companies benefit from American technology and industrial expertise, which will help build more diverse and secure supply chains for the Philippines, the US, and allied partners," Mr. Harris said in a statement released during Mining Philippines 2026, an industry convention.

"We see the Philippines and treaty partners as an essential part of the global supply chain," he added. The framing places the Philippines, a longtime US treaty ally, within a broader effort to diversify critical minerals sourcing among allied economies.

The Philippines is a major producer of nickel, copper, and other minerals with defense, technology, and energy applications, though much of its resource base remains untapped, he noted. Nickel and copper are foundational industrial inputs — nickel in stainless steel and batteries, copper in electrical wiring and power infrastructure — a profile that underpins the supply-chain rationale for the partnership Mr. Harris described.

Mr. Harris said US companies are interested in financing and developing operations in the Philippines, while cautioning that commercial viability will determine success: "In all of this, the economics must work… Somebody's going to have to leave some money (on the table) or it's going to fail. So, let's make it more productive, finance it well, and we will all be successful."

Under the US-Philippines critical minerals memorandum of understanding, the Philippines is envisioned as "not simply recognized as a leading producer of nickel and copper, but also a regional hub for mining technologies, processing, and reliable industrial supply chain relationships."

He described the Philippine market as wide open for investment and pitched a US role in building out a domestic resource processing industry — the value-chain step the MOU language singles out as central to the country's next phase.

Partners, he said, can tap assistance from the US Trade and Development Agency, which supports early-stage feasibility studies at no cost, including a November 2022 study with Eramen Minerals for a nickel and cobalt processing facility.

He also pointed to the US Export-Import Bank, which maintains a $10-billion program to finance US capital equipment; the Development Finance Corp., which provides financing and risk mitigation; and the Commerce Department's Strategic Transactions Advocacy Track. Together, the programs span the early life of a project — feasibility testing, equipment financing, and risk mitigation — lowering the upfront barriers for US firms weighing entry into the Philippine market.

Mr. Harris said his office acts as a matchmaker between American and Philippine firms and invited companies to attend MINExpo International, scheduled for September 2028 in Las Vegas. Those channels — no-cost feasibility work, financing, and matchmaking — sketch the pathway from study to developed operations; which projects advance will, by Mr. Harris's own measure, come down to whether the economics work.

— Maria Mikaela H. Tormon