Tin mining

Tin extraction and use can be dated to the beginnings of the Bronze Age around 3000 BC, when it was observed that copper objects formed of polymetallic ores with different metal contents had different physical properties.

Europe's earliest mining district appears to be located in the Ore Mountains, on the border between Germany and Czech Republic and is dated to 2500 BC.

[5][6] By the medieval period, Iberia's and Germany's deposits lost importance and were largely forgotten while Devon and Cornwall began dominating the European tin market.

[4] In the Far East, the tin belt stretching from Yunnan in China to the Malay Peninsula began being exploited sometime between the third and second millennium BC.

Tasmania also hosts deposits of historical importance, most notably Mount Bischoff and Renison Bell.

While in the 1970s Malaysia was the largest producer, with around a third of world production, it has steadily fallen, and now remains a major smelter and market center.

The resources were registered in 1987[17] and a feasibility study prepared in 1993 by a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel but despite its vicinity to infrastructure a mine was never constructed due to economic and political reasons.

The private Rusolovo holding company is also another potential major supplier as it ramps up production from its high grade (1.5% Sn) Pravoumirskoye mine, which is overcoming infrastructure obstacles.

[20] [*Results from 2014 Australian F.Y] After the discovery of tin in what is now Bisie, North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2002, illegal production has increased there to around 15,000 tons.

In August 2012 cover story in Bloomberg Businessweek stated that tin mining on the Indonesian island of Bangka was becoming more dangerous and destructive as cassiterite ore deposits became harder to get to.

The low income of the miners and the mining operations—pickaxes and buckets are often the equipment used to gather the ore, and $5 US equivalent is a successful day's work—have meant safety measures such as terracing of pits have been ignored.