CAPACUANSMALL SCALECamarines Norte gold: Paracale and Jose Panganiban today.
Two neighbouring towns on the north coast of Camarines Norte have produced gold for centuries. This guide explains where they are, how their gold history unfolded, and how gold is mined there today.
- 12thCentury by which gold was panned here, at the latest
- ~150tGold produced by the district (MGB estimate)
- 1934Year Mambulao was renamed Jose Panganiban
- 2Towns our Minahang Bayan spans
The place
A gold coast in the Bicol Region
Paracale and Jose Panganiban sit side by side on the north coast of Camarines Norte.
Camarines Norte is one of the six provinces of the Bicol Region (Region V), in the south-east of Luzon. Its capital is Daet. Most of the province lives from farming, mainly rice and coconut, but in two neighbouring towns on the north coast, Paracale and Jose Panganiban, gold has shaped life for centuries.
The two towns share one gold district, often called the Paracale–Jose Panganiban district. Its streams drain into Mambulao Bay, and its gold veins run through both municipalities. Our Minahang Bayan lies across the border between them, in Barangay Capacuan (Paracale) and Barangay San Rafael (Jose Panganiban).
From Manila, the drive takes about 7 to 8 hours along the Maharlika Highway. Alternatively, a domestic flight to Naga and a drive north take about 4 to 6 hours in total.
Sources: Camarines Norte provincial profile; Acenas & Vargas, report for Paracale Gold Corp. (2026).
Paracale
Paracale: the gold town
One of the oldest gold districts in the Philippines.
People were panning gold in the rivers around Paracale by at least the 12th century. The local word for the gold pan, pabirik, is still part of the town’s identity, and Paracale is often called the gold town of Camarines Norte.
Spanish records from the 1570s describe native settlements in Paracale and Mambulao that were already working gold. Under American rule, dredges worked the rivers and companies went underground. In the 1930s, Paracale Nacional Gold Mining Company drove tunnels on the Manila and Vallejo veins, which run through our Minahang Bayan today.
In all, the district is estimated to have produced about 150 tonnes of gold.
Sources: J. C. Zafra, technical report for Paracale Gold Corp. (2022); MGB estimate of district production.
Jose Panganiban
Jose Panganiban: the town once called Mambulao
A name that meant gold, and a history of both gold and iron.
Until 1934, Jose Panganiban was called Mambulao, from mambulawan, meaning “bountiful in gold”. Act No. 4155 renamed it in honour of José María Panganiban, a writer of the Propaganda Movement and a native of the town.
Gold was mined here before the Spanish arrived. By the mid-1820s, the town’s output was recorded at about 3,200 ounces (around 90 kg) a year.
In the 20th century the town also became known for iron. Philippine Iron Mines worked the iron ore at Larap from 1925 to 1975, at one time the largest iron mine in Asia. Its old airstrip at Larap is about 10 km from our site.
Today the town has about 60,600 people (2024 census) in 27 barangays, and small-scale gold mining remains one of its main livelihoods.
Sources: Act No. 4155 (1934); Philippine Statistics Authority, 2024 census; municipal history.
Today
Gold mining in the district today
Small-scale miners produce much of the gold here.
Much of the gold mined in Paracale and Jose Panganiban today comes from small-scale miners. Many work in small groups, digging narrow tunnels into the veins and processing ore in small plants.
A lot of this work is informal. Unlicensed miners, known locally as “high-graders”, move from spot to spot, and mercury has long been used to catch fine gold, with risks to health and to the rivers. Programmes such as planetGOLD, led by the United Nations Environment Programme, have worked in the province to reduce mercury use.
Philippine law offers a better route. Under Republic Act No. 7076, a province can declare a Minahang Bayan: an area where registered small-scale miners can work legally, with permits and environmental rules.
Sources: Acenas & Vargas (2026); planetGOLD Philippines; Republic Act No. 7076 (1991).
Where we fit
The Capacuan Minahang Bayan
An organised, licensed way to mine an old gold district.
The Capacuan Small Scale Miners Association works an approximately 81-hectare Minahang Bayan that spans Paracale and Jose Panganiban, on land of the Inocalla family, who have mined in the district since before the Second World War.
Five named gold vein systems cross the area: Manila, Vallejo, Virginia and Pasacao in the main zone, and San Rafael to the west. Ore is processed without mercury at our own plant in Barangay Santa Rosa Sur, Jose Panganiban.
We use machines such as excavators and trucks where miners once relied on hand tools, and part of what mining earns goes back into local schools, farming, water and training.
For investors looking at Camarines Norte gold, this means a known district with centuries of production, a legal framework and a team on the ground. Gold mining carries real risks, and nothing on this page is a promise of returns. Any investment is discussed individually after an inquiry.
See our Gold Veins, Minahang Bayan and Processing Plant pages for details and sources.
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