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Press Cutting - Grinding To A Halt
The article centers on the tin mining industry in Perak that is still in operation. As tin prices soared to USD$26,900 (RM81,911) per tonne in October 2010, Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir was reported saying that many companies had applied to the state government for permits to reopen tin mines or start new ones.
Tin mines found to be still in operation in Perak was at Sungai Durian near Tanjung Tualang and another at Kuala Dipang (near Kampar). A mine in Gopeng ceased operations in December 2010 after being in operation for six years, another that closed down for good was Kampar's SEK tin mine, arguably one of the largest in the state.
Retired tin miner Tan Sri Hew See Tong said that after 150 years of mining, tin was practically exhausted in the Kinta Valley.
For years, we have been re-working the same land using the gravel pump method. "Only small parcels of poor grade mining land remain and the acreage is also unappealing"
There was a financial risk in starting a new mine according to another former miner Hoe Ke Pet.
"The initial capital can be from RM2mil to RM3mil if you have to acquire machinery which includes excavators and lorries. Reusing previous machinery is out of the question as they are no longer serviceable and some old ones have been sold off as scrap.
According to the article Malaysia was now a pale shadow compared to its former status as the top dog. It produces less than 2% of the current total global output but quick to disagree with that viewpoint that tin mining was a sunset industry in the country was Perak Chinese Mining Association president Choong Tien Chuan.
"In Perak, there is still much land including virgin ground for tin mining. We have been asking for mining licenses to be issued since the collapse of the tin mining industry but to no avail," he said.
Much land in Perak had been alienated for agriculture and housing mentions Choong.
Datuk Chang Ko Youn, the adviser to the Mentri Besar mentions that it is not easy to find land formining that would not affect the overall planning of the state.
"Mining land should also not be near residential areas or environmental sensitive areas," he said.
For the ex-miners of Perak, it looks like they just have to sit by and watch the fluctuation of tin prices without being able to do much about it. Or to put it another way, Malaysia's golden days of tin mining are well over.