A large part of Sipalay is covered by Mineral Production Sharing Agreements (MPSAs), mining claims or pending applications for mineral exploration.

      Since commercial mining operations were discontinued with the closure of the MMC and  Philex mines, unemployment rose to an unprecented level, the effects of which are still  palpable. Only skeletal forces remain employed today in these companies, mainly to  provide security and protection for the companies' assets and to implement the  companies' rehabilitation and closure plans.

      Given that mining claims in most of Sipalay still exist and new explorations are  on-going, there is a strong likelihood of mining revival in the near future especially  with  the Mining Act and the national government's thrust to aggressively promote  investment in this largely neglected sector of the economy. Despite the potential for  high employment absorption and its relatively large contribution to the local and  national economy, however, the local population is ambivalent about the mining  industry's revival. While more recent experiences with Philex are encouraging, there  are concerns about resource use conflicts and mining's compatibility with tourism  development-a thrust being aggressively pursued by the local government to provide  Sipalay residents diversified sources of income.