The mining contributed 51.9% of the exports of the Dominican Republic in 2025, highlighted Martin Valerioexecutive director of the country’s Mining and Petroleum Chamber (Camipe), when presenting the balance of the results obtained by the sector in the year.
Likewise, he highlighted that the mining represents 1.4% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) national.
Valerio took the opportunity to criticize the delays in the approvals of exploitation projects and request the approval of clear rules regarding the funds that are delivered to the communities.
And he added that the sector raised 420 million dollars in foreign investment and contributed more than 25,000 million pesos to the treasury in the first half of 2025.
A sector “underrated“
Despite its importance, Valerio assured that the extractive sector is underestimated and suggested that the State does not fulfill its regulatory duty.
“When a legitimate request wait months or years without a response, it is not the company that loses, it is the country that loses. Lose investment, lose jobs and lose development. Therefore, this is not prudence, it is paralysis“, he expressed.
He stated that “every honest conversation about sector must recognize the duties of the state and society in guaranteeing clear rulesagile processes and debates based on evidence, not on prejudices”.
In that sense, he said he supported the development of a instrument that allow 5% accounting that is paid for the development of the communities where they operate.
“In the mining We understand it well: we have rights, yes, but we also have duties. Duties to the country, to the environmentwith the communities and with the truth,” he emphasized.
He summoned the Governmentto the National Congress, to the academy, to the sector private and civil society to a great pact for the mining modernization.
Along with these criticisms, the Chamber highlighted that the sector has been consolidating a social approach which is reflected in a accumulated investment more than 220 million pesos between 2020 and 2025.
These resources, as they explained, have sustained more than 30,000 jobs direct and indirect.
Balance sheet
During the meeting, Camipe presented its 2025 balance sheet and advanced its approach for 2026, supported by the “La mining moves us”, an initiative that seeks to highlight the role of sector in the construction of a modern mining modelresponsible and oriented to tangible social results.
The organization insisted that, although the economic numbers show the magnitude of the industry —with more than 1,043 million dollars exported and fiscal contributions exceeding 20,000 million pesos only between January and July 2025—, its main indicator of impact is in the human transformations.
For the entity, achievements must be measured in concrete stories: families who no longer cross rivers to get to school, young people who access university scholarships or communities that receive free health services.
In this framework, the Chamber detailed that more than 10,000 people have received medical care at no cost and that at least 140 homes in rural areas have been intervened to eliminate dirt floors.
They also highlighted the investment in training: 1,200 university scholarships1,700 technical training and more than 8,100 young people trained through initiatives of the sector aimed at strengthening specialized trades.
Camipe also highlighted the environmental advancesciting the planting of more than 70,000 trees and actions to protect water basins such as those of the San Juan River, the Sabaneta dam, and the Sin and Arroyo Toro rivers.
The entity stressed that each formal mining project is obliged to develop and financially guarantee a closure planwhich—as they claim—ensures the environmental restoration for the future generations.
