Timah to build rare earth metal refinery

State Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Dahlan Iskan has asked state-controlled tin giant PT Timah to set up a refinery to produce rare earth metals from its tin waste products, reports said on Wednesday.

Dahlan said that the rare earth metals have high value in the global market as they?re required materials for the manufacturing of electronic products. He added that Timah for years has been selling its waste products to other firms for export, while in fact the company should have taken advantage of it to produce valuable rare earth metals.

The minister said he was scheduled to fly to Timah?s concession area in Bangka Belitung on Friday to make sure that the company begins to realize the project this year.

Separately, Timah Corporate Secretary Agung Nugroho was quoted by Tempo daily as saying that the company is currently making preparation to realize the project, which hopefully could be completed next year, initially with a small production capacity of 500-1,000 kg per day. (*)