China’s Ministry of Land and Resources announced on Tuesday that authorities in the country have found and ordered the clean-up of 284 illegal mines in an effort to regulate the exploration of valuable minerals. The number of small-scale operations producing minerals such as rare earths, tungsten, tin, and antimony was reduced to 116 from 400 in 11 provinces and regions in the country in spot checks led by teams dispatched by the ministry, a statement on its website reported by the Xinhua news agency said. The latest campaign ran over the second half of 2010 and was a continuation of long-running efforts to reduce illegal mining over several years.
China’s Nonferrous Metals Association (CNIA) reported that national production of tin-in-concentrates rose by 15% to 74,304 tonnes in the 11 months to November 2010, but we believe that unreported production has fallen. The great majority of production comes from three provinces/regions: Yunnan (38%), Hunan (35%) and Guangxi (19%), all of which were included in the latest campaign. ITRI estimates that as a result of the efforts by the authorities, unreported tin mine production in China has declined sharply from a peak of some 40-50,000 tpy in 2006-2007 to around 10,000 tonnes last year.
