A senior Indonesian government spokesman denied yesterday that new operating licences were about to be issued to some independent smelters on Bangka island.
More than twenty operations were shut down last October by the police and they will remain in-operational for an unspecified period while the government investigates their legality, said Simon Sembiring, director general for mining at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.
Prior to their closure the smelters were producing some 6,000 tonnes per month, some 20% of global tin supply.
Last week the governor of Bangka Belitung province announced that the smelters were free to apply for new licences immediately, providing they met various legal, commercial and environmental conditions.
But only the central government has jurisdiction to issue licenses, not the provincial administration, and all such rumors are false, Sembiring said.
"There are no licenses being reissued to smelters on Bangka," he said.
