Timah to explore for tin prospects in SE Asian countries
Saturday, May 12 2001 - 05:00 AM WIB
Declining tin reserves in Indonesia have prompted PT Tambang Timah to look for tin prospects in Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand, Dow Jones Newswire quoted the company's spokesman as saying Friday.
"The potential to find more tin prospects in Indonesia eventually is very limited," Timah's spokesman Prasetyo Saksono said.
Timah's inland tin reserves will last until 2004, while offshore tin reserves 2016, according to the company's year-end review.
"We target offshore area of Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, which we suspect we can find tin prospect with economic value," Saksono said.
In March, Timah entered a cooperation contract with Vietnam's Marine Geology and Marine Resources Center to conduct an offshore exploration for tin in Vietnam. The project is estimated to last two years.
Indonesia's biggest tin miner and producer is seeking to partner mining companies in Malaysia that could help Timah to seek the Malaysian government's approval to do offshore exploration in the country.
Saksono said no partnerships have been finalized but Timah is in talks with several Malaysian companies.
Timah hasn't decided about its partnership plans in Thailand (*)