In an interview with The Star newspaper, Malaysia Smelting Corporation CEO Chua Cheong Yong said that the company hopes to complete a withdrawal from Indonesia by the end of this year and will focus its attention on mining and smelting in Malaysia and Africa in the near future.
MSC is looking to sell the assets associated with its 75% shareholding in Indonesian subsidiary PT Koba Tin, which failed to extend its Contract of Work last year. These include stocks of tin contained in smelting intermediates and slags, a large capacity bucket-line dredge and a 2,000 tpm smelting plant. The Koba operation produced only 387 tonnes of tin in 2013 as the business was shut down.
In Malaysia the company is re-vamping its profitable Butterworth smelter and making incremental upstream investments in its wholly-owned subsidiary Rahman Hydraulic Tin (RHT). The Butterworth smelter will be embarking on an expansion of its smelting and refining capacity, giving it the ability to produce more premium tin grades. Exploration and development at the Rahman Hydraulic mine, which produced 2,223 tonnes of tin-in-concentrate last year, is ongoing and an exploration programme at the SL Tin Sungei Lembing property, in which RHT acquired an 80% stake earlier this year, is also planned.
Chua noted that tin concentrates production from Africa countries, notably Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda will continue to provide a sustainable major and growing feed source to the Butterworth smelter. MSC has a small stake in Alphamin, which plans to develop the major Bisie project in DRC, and is a partner in a joint-venture 300 tpm smelter in Lubumbashi. The DRC smelter is currently on care and maintenance awaiting supply of power.
