Govt to limit tin, copper, gold and nickel production

The government plans to limit the production of the country?s five main mineral products including tin, copper, gold, and nickel and iron ore in a bid to control prices and to prevent from an overexploitation, Investor Daily reported on Friday.

Director General of Minerals and Coal of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Bambang Setiawan said on Thursday that the tin production would be limited to 90,000 tons a year beginning next year.

?The production curb aims to help control the world?s metal prices and more importantly to prevent from an overexploitation of the country?s mineral resources,? he said.

He, however, did not disclose the ideal level of gold, copper, nickel and iron ore production.

Indonesia, the world's second largest tin producer, produced about 103,100 tons of tin-in-concentrate in 2007. China, the largest producer, produced about 118,300 tons in the same year.

The country has boosted control of the nation's tin industry since February 2007, when the government required all exporters to acquire a permit to ship the metal overseas. To date, at least 19 permits have been issued, including to state-owned tine miner PT Timah and PT Koba Tin.

Meanwhile, PT Timah may not be able to produce 50,000 tons of tin this year as dry weather hampered operations, the firm's president director told Reuters on Thursday.

Output at Timah, which produced 58,086 tons of tin-in-concentrate in 2007, may also be hit by the upcoming Muslim fasting month in September, Wachid Usman added. (*)