Institute of Pacific Relations

Tin Mining in Banka Island

Reviewed work(s):
Source: Far Eastern Survey, Vol. 18, No. 21 (Oct. 19, 1949), p. 251
Published by: Institute of Pacific Relations
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3024157 .
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Eastern Survey.

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Tin in Banka Island
Mining
editorial note: The following is condensed from a
report prepared for the Far Eastern Survey by Mr.
Van Lummel, Head Engineer of the Banka Tin Min?
ing Company.
island of Banka is located in the same tin-
The belt as Malakka
(Malaya), Billiton, and Sinkep
(Indonesia), and contains the richest deposits of the
zone. After 1920 nearly all of Banka's tin was mined by
the Dutch administration. In March 1942 the Japanese
appropriated the entire tin workings; and in February
1946 the island was reoccupied by Netherlands troops.
The Japanese had succeeded in restoring production
in the mine workings to a large degree. All but one of
the dredges sunk by the Dutch had been refloated. The
Japanese had shut down the mines, however, when
Allied submarine activities virtually halted tin export.
By the end of the war some equipment was completely
run down for lack of supervision, spare parts, and lub-
rication. (On the island of Billiton Japanese exploita-
tion was never actually started, and all unused mach?
inery disappeared from the island.)
Rehabilitation of the mines was an arduous process,
not yet completed. One major drawback was a shortage
of fuel for the power plant. There was also a shortage
of staff and labor. A number of staff members had died
or become ill during the war; many laborers had also
died and the rest were undernourished. A number of
bucket dredges, used for the larger tin deposits, were
repaired, while others had to be ordered from abroad.
By the end of 1946, 27 pits had been started; further
expansion has been awaiting the extension of the power
plant.
Banka's postwar progress is indicated, in tons of tin
produced, by the following table:
Tin production in 1946-48 reached the following per?
centages of normal prewar capacity:
Proven ore reserves are considered adequate to main-
tain the prewar rate of tin production for many years
to come. As in nearly all mining enterprises, however,
the grade of ore is gradually decreasing. Ore produced
just before the war averaged only one-third of the
grade of ore mined in 1890. In the future, lower-grade
OCTOBER 19, 1949
deposits will have to be worked on a large scale and,
as is now being done to some extent, the tailings of
former workings will have to be mined again. Most
of the dredges will eventually be used in this kind of
operation. Special methods, using easily movable equip?
ment, will have to be devised for the remaining small
deposits of high-grade ore. Continuous work with old
methods can nevertheless go on for about eight more
years. The prewar production peak of more than 30,000
tons of tin per year will probably be attained again with?
in a few years.
Production costs have risen to four times the pre?
war level because of higher wages and higher com-
modity prices. But the price of tin has likewise gone up,
and yields a reasonable profit. Barring unexpected ad-
versities, tin production on Banka has a promising out?
look.
POINT FOUR AID IN THE PHILIPPINES
While the American Congress considers the Admin?
istration proposals to realize President Truman's Point
Four program, a dispatch from Manila reveals that de-
partments of the Philippine government have drawn
up blueprints to use the possible assistance. The Secre?
tary of Agriculture and Natural Resources submitted
to President Quirino a plan for the intensive develop?
ment of food and money crops. His basic point of view
is that industries which are already producing but do
not produce enough should be expanded, because, he
asserts, embarking on new industries involves a great
deal more risk and capital than expanding those the
country already has.
The Philippine Secretary of Commerce and Industry
recommends in a seven-point program the establish-
ment of business and economic research and technical
study in order to enable his department to give the
fundamental aid to both private business and govern?
ment agencies that he believes they require.
INCREASING FOREIGN EXCHANGE BY TOURISM
Recent reports from both Japan and India indicate
similar projects for getting more foreign exchange by
promoting the tourist trade. The Indian government's
Tourist Traflic Advisory Committee, at a recent meet?
ing in New Delhi, approved rules for the recognition
of travel agencies and the preparation of official guide
books on tourist centers throughout the country.
American middle-class tourists are what Nobuo Na-
kamura, Foreign Tourist Section chief of the Japan
Travel Bureau, hopes to attract to Japan. On his re-
turn from a trip to America he predicted that sight-
seeing enterprises would be encouraged and that tourism
in Japan had a bright future.
251