Bangka?s tin reserves enough for 10 years only

Tin reserves on Bangka Island in Bangka Belitung province currently reach only around 250,000 tons, and that they might be totally excavated over the next 10 years, local daily Bangka Post reported Thursday.

The paper quoted as saying the president director of state tin miner PT Timah Tbk, Tobrani Alwi, that the 250,000-ton reserves even would not be enough for 10 years if tin mining activities increased in the coming years.

Publicly listed Timah Tbk, majority owned by the Indonesian government and the world?s largest integrated tin miner, operates tin mines and a huge tin smelting plant in Bangka. It also has tin mining operations on Belitung Island.

Also operating in the province is another tin mining firm, PT. Koba Tin, which is 75 percent by owned by Malaysian Smelting Corporation Berhad.

Tobrani told a visiting group of House members on Wednesday that the operation of illegal tin miners in the province would cause a rapid decrease in area tin reserves.

He questioned why the local authorities had not taken action to curb illegal tin mining in the area. (*)