For many, gold marks life’s milestones: earrings given to a baby, wedding bands exchanged by a couple or a bracelet passed down by a grandmother. Be-cause it is durable and does not decay, gold can preserve value for the next gen-eration.
But gold’s value extends beyond the jewelry we wear. It is used in elec-tronic connectors and semiconductors because it conducts electricity efficiently and resists corrosion-qualities important to the computing infrastructure sup-porting artificial intelligence (AI).
Gold also serves a broader economic purpose. Central banks hold it in their reserves to help preserve value when inflation erodes purchasing power and currencies fluctuate.
For the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), gold forms part of the country’s reserves that help the economy absorb external shocks and meet international obligations.
With central bank’s purchasing 288.9 metric tons of gold during the sec-ond quarter of 2026, up 62 percent year-on-year, and demand from AI-related applications remaining strong, the average gold price reached $4,506.29 per troy ounce, 37 percent higher than a year earlier.
Yet long before gold becomes jewelry, a computer component or part of a central bank’s reserves, it must first be recovered from the earth. One of the oldest ways of finding it is through panning: swirling river sediment until lighter materials wash away and denser gold particles remain.
Charles Pangalina, a 40-year-old Twali-Ifugao born and raised in Barangay Didipio, an upland community in Nueva Vizcaya near Quirino, once relied on farming and gold panning. Both provided uncertain incomes. As a high-school graduate, he depended on rain-fed farming, while poor roads made it difficult to bring produce to market.
‘You were lucky if a vehicle made the trip once a week,’ Pangalina re-called.
The area where he panned was eventually depleted, leaving him without a stable livelihood. Gold, however, would remain part of Pangalina’s life. His next opportunity would take him from searching for loose gold particles to helping ex-tract ore from deep beneath his own barangay.
Unlike panning, underground mining involves recovering gold embedded in solid rock through a carefully planned system. It requires trained miners, engi-neers, drillers and equipment operators working together to develop tunnels, operate specialized machinery and safely bring ore to the surface.
OceanaGold (Philippines) Inc. (OGP) began commercial production at the Didipio Mine as Pangalina was looking for work. He joined the mine as a pit technician in November 2014.
Producing both gold and copper, the mine’s underground workings extend to the 2,133-meter relative level-a distance around two and a half times the height of the Burj Khalifa if the skyscraper were turned upside down.
OGP employs more than 968 people, 97 percent of whom are Filipino. Pri-oritizing local residents in the workforce, almost 70 percent come from Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino, while 44 percent are Barangay Didipio residents with Indig-enous roots.
OGP provided Pangalina with three months of underground-mining train-ing. He was part of the service crew and progressed through several operational roles.
His dedication earned the respect of his coworkers and supervisors, even-tually leading to his current position as production supervisor.
‘I asked them, ‘Why me?’ I did not finish college, I was not very good at English, and I did not know how to use a computer. They told me they liked my work ethic and made sure I received managerial training,’ Pangalina recalled.
He also saw his family’s farm’s income improving.
‘My cousins now work on our farm, and their income has increased be-cause their produce no longer spoils before reaching the market through the farm-to-market roads built by OGP,’ he said.
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Elmer Dulnuan, a 39-year-old Twali-Ifugao from Didipio, followed his own path underground. Previously a carpenter, mason and heavy-equipment opera-tor, he joined the mine in 2017 and underwent training in underground-mining operations.
Dulnuan began as a nipper, supplying crews with tools and materials. He steadily advanced and is now acting superintendent for underground mining, helping manage the people and equipment needed to bring ore to the surface and meet production targets.
‘I am proud to lead our team in working safely, Filipinos and expatriates alike,’ he said.
Once the ore reaches the surface, part of Didipio’s output is processed in-to gold doré. Under an agreement effective from March 2025 to March 2028, OGP offers at least 25% of its annual gold doré production to the BSP.
In 2025, OGP sold around 6,684 ounces to the central bank, equivalent to 31% of its annual production. These sales allow locally produced gold to help strengthen the country’s reserve buffer amid inflationary pressures and global uncertainty.
For Pangalina and Dulnuan, however, gold’s value is most evident at home.
Charles supports six children, including his eldest, who is studying nursing. His work has helped him educate his children, improve their home and afford family trips.
Dulnuan and his high-school sweetheart, now his wife of 16 years, are rais-ing five children. His work has helped make their family more comfortable. With a high school now in Brgy. Didipio, his children no longer have to travel four hours to pursue an education. Most importantly, he can return home to them after work.
Behind every piece of jewelry, electronic component or gold bar in a cen-tral-bank vault is a long journey. For those who bring gold to the surface, its value is measured not only in ounces, but in children kept in school, comfortable homes and better futures built close to family.
OceanaGold operates the Didipio gold-copper mine in Luzon un-der a Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement. It is committed to safely and responsibly maximizing the generation of Free Cash Flow from its operation and delivering strong returns for its shareholders. It is a listed company with the Philippine Stock Exchange.