Koba Tin to produce 22,000 tons of tin this year

PT Koba Tin will produce about 23,000 tons of tin metal from its concession in Bangka island this year to take the advantage of the rise in the demand in the world's market.

Koba Tin's president Mohammad Anuar Sidek said in a hearing with the House of Representatives (DPR) that this year's projected production would be lower than 23,530 tons of tin metal produced by the company in 2003.

"Our production, last year, exceeded the production capacity of our smelting plant which reached only 22,000 tons a year," he said. He estimated that the tin price, which reached between US$7,800 and US$8,000 per ton last year, would continue to fluctuate within the same range this year.

Koba Tin, 75 percent owned by Malaysia Smelting Corp and 25 percent by state-owned tin miner PT Timah, has extended its contract of work over its concession in Bangka until 2013. With total deposit of 70,000 tons, the mining activities in the area could last only until 2007.

Anuar added that the company would intensify exploration activities to find more tin deposit in the island. (dino)