Having slashed capital spending to Rp 325 billion this year, Indonesia’s PT Timah will spend Rp 450 billion (US$45 million) next year on new dredges alone. Much of this year’s capex is related to the construction of a new tin chemicals plant in Java.
President Director of Timah Wachid Usman told Bisnis Indonesia that the company will purchase five cutter suction dredges worth US$15 million in total and build a deep-water bucket wheel dredge worth US$30 million. "For the expansion plan next year, it goes on. But now we still focus on the ongoing of the existing downstream business development plan," he said. There are currently 36 cutter suction dredges operating on Timah’s mining leases (32 of which are operated by contractors), as well as the company’s 12 large bucket ladder vessels.
Timah is expanding its offshore mining operation to anticipate a decline in its tin deposits on land, Company Secretary Abrun Abubakar told Bloomberg. The company expects output from its offshore operation to account for 50% of total output this year, compared with 35% he said.
