Vinto smelter hit by gas supply problems
Bolivia’s Vinto smelter was forced to reduce output late Friday following disruptions to its natural gas supplies. “We are not totally shut down. Some units at the plant were stopped. We are working at 50 percent because of the issue of natural gas...
China’s tin production falls again
Provisional data released by the National Bureau of Statistics data shows that August refined tin production in China fell by 19.4% relative to August 2007, to 9,211 tonnes. The latest month’s figure was however around 10% higher than in the previous month....
Vinto reduces ore purchases
Bolivia's Vinto metallurgical complex (CMV) has restricted its purchases of tin ore to 600 tonnes a month in a move to avoid increasing its roughly US$33 million debt to state tin miner Empresa Minera Huanuni (EMH), according to local press reports monitored by BN...
Indonesian government may chase old royalty payments
Bisnis Indonesia reported today that at least fifteen tin smelters holding mining concessions are suspected of not paying a 3% royalty from 2002 to 2005, inflicting a total loss of US$19.63 million (182.5 billion rupiah) on the state. An unnamed official at the...
Jakarta Tin Market plan backed by independent smelters
A plan to establish a tin market based in Indonesia has been supported by the main independent tin smelters there. According to the official Antara news agency yesterday, companies grouped in the Bangka Belitung Timah Sejahtera (BBTS) consortium urged the government...
Indonesian exports fall in August
Data from Indonesia’s Trade Ministry shows that the volume of tin checked for export by surveyors fell to 8,231 tonnes in August, 17% lower than in July. The fall in exports may be because some buyers slowed their purchases due to adequate stock, Hartojo Agus...
Tin mines for North America?
The boom in tin prices in recent years could potentially lead to a revival of tin mining on a significant scale in North America for the first time since the early 1990s. Three projects in Alaska, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have estimated combined resources of well...
High prices offset lower production for Timah
Indonesia’s state-controlled tin producer PT Timah reported a 42% rise in net income to Rp 1,112 billion (US$120 million) in the first half of 2008. Total net sales rose by 3% to Rp 4,203 billion (US$ 453 million), of which 91% was accounted for by refined tin...
Columbus to float Heemskirk project
Columbus Metals Limited is planning a September IPO on the Australian Stock Exchange as a basis for developing the Heemskirk (formerly known as Zeehan) mine project in Tasmania. The deposit was identified by Aberfoyle Ltd in the early 1980s and has a (non-JORC)...