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Gold/Mining/Energy : Mining News of Note -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LoneClone who wrote (31022)	1/11/2009 8:23:40 PM
From: LoneClone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 193918

Small Indonesia smelters may resume work by end-Jan Fri Jan 9, 2009 3:43pm IST in.reuters.com By Dwi Sadmoko PANGKAL PINANG, Indonesia, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Some small smelters in the Indonesian islands that produce a quarter of the world's tin will resume work by month-end, after a three-month halt caused by rain-hit operations and low metal prices. A drop in tin prices had cut margins for small smelters and prompted the governor of Indonesia's province of Bangka-Belitung to order small tin smelters to temporarily stop production last October. Although the governor allowed them to resume operation in December, in a bid to protect the livelihood of local miners, some smelters have yet to begin work. "We have not started operation yet," Ismiyardi, commissioner of PT Bangka-Belitung Timah Sejahtera, a consortium of 9 small smelters, said on Friday. "We are still cautious because tin prices are still fluctuating and it will affect our production cost." The wet season crippled operations because miners could not collect ore, squeezing raw material supplies, he said, adding that the consortium planned to produce 2,700 tonnes of refined tin when it resumed operations by the end of January. The price of tin, used in food packaging and soldering of electronic components, has fallen 55 percent from an all-time high of $25,500 a tonne hit last May as global economic weakness chews into industrial activity. On Thursday, the price of the silvery, malleable metal stood at $11,400 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange. Indonesia banned tin ore exports in 2002 to curb illegal mining that spawned numerous small tin smelters. But the fall in prices is prompting calls for tighter controls over production. Rains had also affected production at PT Koba Tin, which is 75 percent owned by Malaysian Smelting Corp. (MSCB.KL: Quote, Profile, Research). Heavy rains had flooded two of the 3 onshore mines operated by the firm, Koba Tin's spokesman Darmansyah told Reuters. "River levels increased because of heavy rains and flooded the mines," Darmansyah said, adding that the company sourced tin ores from other mining areas and planned to export 700 tonnes of refined tin in January. This year, the company has a target of producing 9,017 tonnes of tin ingot, up from an estimated 7,500 tonnes in 2008. Last year, police shut Koba Tin's smelting operation and warehouse over charges it had used tin mined from protected forest. Tin exports from the Bangka-Belitung islands were estimated to have fallen 47 percent last November from a year earlier, to 4,381.4 tonnes. (Writing by Fitri Wulandari; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)