Stratos, Metalcorp eye tin mines in Belitung
Thursday, October 31 2013 - 01:51 PM WIB
ASX-listed Stratos Resources Ltd announced on Thursday it had established a Singaporean subsidiary, Billiton Island Resources Pte Ltd to assist in acquiring a 60 percent interest in tins mines on Belitung Island.
The firm did not specify the tin mines, only saying the mines already have Production IUPs.
The company intends to acquire these assets on a 50/50 basis with international commodities trading house, Metalcorp and its Australian subsidiary, Tennant Metals.
?Discussions in relation to the potential acquisition of the Yinchen smelter assets also continue with relevant Indonesian and other interested parties. In the interim, smelting arrangements at market rates are available from other smelters on Belitung Island,? the firm said in a statement.
The Yinchen Tin Project is a significant tin project based on Belitung Island that has historically produced 1-2 percent of annual global tin production. Belitung Island has a long mining history and culture and is where Billiton, the precursor to BHP Billiton, first commenced mining in the 1800s.
Belitung and its sister island, Bangka are the two key tin production regions in Indonesia producing over 90 percent of Indonesia?s tin. Indonesia and China are the two largest tin producers globally (each accounting for over 30 percent of global production) and with China being a net importer of tin, Indonesia is the largest exporter of tin globally, the firm explained.
Editing by Johannes Simbolon