Timah?s request to back down from ex-Koba Tin concession approved

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has approved a request from IDX-listed tin giant to withdraw from a concession assigned to manage the former tin concession of PT Koba Tin in Bangka Belitung Province, Kontan reported on Friday.

?We have approved the wish of Timah to back down ? It?s a normal thing, no need to be exaggerated,? Director General of Mineral and Coal Bambang Gatot told the paper.

He stressed that Timah?s withdrawal from the consortium was due to economic reason as the tin reserves in the concession were considered lower than what the company had expected, dismissing suggestion that the state-controlled company had been under pressure from a politically-connected private investor who wants to acquire the concession.

State-controlled Timah sent a letter to the ministry earlier in July on the request to back down from a consortium, which also comprises of companies owned by the Bangka Belitung provincial administration, Central and South Bangka regency administrations, assigned by the government in the middle of 2013 to operate the former tin concession of PT Koba Tin whose contract had expired. (*)