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Indonesia Other Minerals
Tin
Indonesia was one of the world's four major tin
producers,
behind Brazil but close in ore production to Malaysia and
China in
the late 1980s. Tin ore production was centered on Bangka
Island,
part of Sumatera Selatan Province. New exploration was
planned in
1989 on Sumatra and offshore Bangka Island. Indonesia is a
member
of the Association of Tin Producing Countries and was
required in
FY 1989 to restrict tin exports to no more than 31,500
tons as part
of the association's Supply Rationalization Scheme. The
government
enterprise P.T. Timah controlled the majority of tin
mining and,
together with an Australian mining firm, operated a tin
smelter in
Muntok, located in northwestern Bangka Island. In 1989 the
smelter,
which had a capacity of 32,500 tons per year, produced
29,900 tons
of refined tin from local ore. In the late 1980s,
Indonesia
exported 80 percent of its tin production. Some tin ore
was shipped
to Malaysia for processing, although tin metal was shipped
primarily to Singapore. Most of the growing domestic tin
consumption was used in tin plating and for solder.
Official proven
reserves of tin were 740 million tons.
Data as of November 1992
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