Timah cancels overseas expansion plan

State-owned tin mining company PT Timah has finally decided to cancel plans to acquire an Australian tin mine due to several reasons including the mine?s low amount of proven reserves.

Timah?s President Director Wachid Usman said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the plan to acquire the Darwin-based tin mine was cancelled because the mine?s actual reserve was only 11,000 tons, much lower than the initial estimate of 50 million tons.

?The actual reserve is too small for a company,? he said, adding that with the decline of tin prices in the world market, developing such a small mine would not be economically feasible.

Wachid said that PT Timah would instead focus on its expansion plan in the country despite the fact that there are a number of attractive tin mining areas in China, Myanmar and Vietnam.

?The company?s main priority is to achieve this year?s sales target of 60,000 tons,? he said. (*)