At around 8:20 am on February 23, a commuter bus carrying mine workers from the Baiyinchagan mine in Inner Mongolia, China, lost control on the auxiliary slope of the mine. The bus crashed in the main mine roadway after the brakes failed to stop the vehicle, killing 21 people and injuring another 29.
The Baiyinchagan mine is owned by Yinman Mining Co., Ltd, which was founded in 2005 and was acquired by Xingye Group, a listed company on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, in 2016. The output of tin and silver accounts for slightly more than 40% of the gross profit of the Baiyinchagan mine, while other metals, such as zinc, copper, lead and antimony, account for about 15%.
Our View: We estimate that the Baiyinchagan mine produced about 7,000 tonnes of tin-in-concentrate in 2018, accounting for about 8% of China’s domestic mine production. Market participants estimate the accident may cause Baiyinchagan mine to cease operations for about 3 months to 1 year. This puts more pressure on the supply of raw materials in China, considering that the increase in domestic mine production was predominantly from the Baiyinchagan mine last year, while Myanmar tin shipments to China this year may further decline to 46,000 tonnes from 54,600 tonnes in 2018.