Johan Murod, director at private tin consortium Bangka Belitung Timah Sejahtera (BBTS) told Metal Bulletin that production by the seven smelters in the group remains constrained by limited ore supplies. Since mid-October, BBTS has re-activated two more smelters in response to the greater ore output bought from independent tin miners. This means an additional of 250-300 tpm in refined tin production, and increases BBTS’ operations to 20% of a capacity of 2,800-3,500 tpm. BBTS had hoped to operate at 20-30% of capacity, but raw materials are already difficult to secure since the seasonal rains started in October.
Indonesia’s small-scale tin miners have by now nearly all returned to work, although ore production remains low because of the bad weather, sources told MB. A two-month police crackdown on illegal mining stopped in early October but miners took their time to return, unsure if the arrests had stopped for good. Now, many independent tin miners have started mining again, said Dharmansyah Nawawi, the Bangka-based spokesman of Koba Tin. The crackdown, organised directly from capital Jakarta, gave "shock therapy" to illegal miners who have since left the island, said Murod. The rains are expected to continue until next year. Meanwhile, neither Murod nor Nawawi could say for sure if and when a crackdown may happen again.
