UPDATE 1-Indonesia's Koba Tin on track for 9,017 T output
uk.biz.yahoo.com
JAKARTA, May 19 (Reuters) - Indonesian tin miner PT Koba Tin said on Tuesday it is on track to produce 9,017 tonnes of refined tin this year as its mines resume operations after flooding and on plans to revive mining in old mines.
Koba Tin, which is 75-percent owned by Malaysia Smelting Corp. Bhd, had previously said it could revise down its output target this year because of the floods.
'We have managed to pump water out from two mines, so mining activities have resumed to normal,' Darmansyah, a Koba Tin spokesman in Indonesian tin mining area of Bangka island.
'We are still on track to produce tin as planned,' he added.
Koba Tin plans to produce 9,017 tonnes of refined tin this year, up from 7,109 tonnes in 2008.
Refined tin output from Koba Tin accounted for 18 percent of Malaysian Smelting's total refined tin output of 38,739 tonnes in 2008.
The firm also planned to revive mining activities in some of its old mines to increase production, Darmansyah said.
'There are some locations that we had mined in the past in which reserves are still economically viable. We plan to mine in those areas again,' he said.
Koba Tin operates an onshore dredge and gravel-pump mining units in an area of 41,680 hectares (103,000 acres) under a contract of work agreement with the government.
The firm has its own smelter with a production capacity of 25,000 tonnes of refined tin a year but production has been lower after it was affected by a government clampdown on small scale mining and private smelters in late 2006.
(Reporting by Fitri Wulandari; Editing by Ed Davies) |
