Malaysia Smelting Corporation (MSC) has revealed a 1,400% year-on-year increase in profit before tax to RM49.5 million (~US$11.6 million) in 2016, largely as a result of improved tin prices compared to 2015. The group’s revenue was broadly stable at RM1.5 billion in 2016 as refined tin production fell by 11.3% to 26,802 tonnes.
At MSC’s Rahman Hydraulic open-pit tin mine, all processing units operated throughout 2016 at near full capacity to produce 2,228 tonnes of tin-in-concentrate. Management is targeting an increase in output of 20 to 25 percent in the years ahead. The company also continues to carry out exploration in Malaysia. Promising initial exploration results at the 80% owned Sungai Lembing Mines in Pahang have led MSC to target production of 100 tonnes per month of tin-in-concentrate from the location within the next few years.
The company also intends to convert a recently purchased lead smelting facility in Port Klang into a tin smelting plant using Top Submerged Lance (TSL) technology, with a capacity of some 30,000 tonnes of refined tin per year. The new smelter could be in use by the end of 2017 and would replace current operations at the Butterworth smelter when fully operational.
