A tin mining boom?

5 things about global tin mining before it makes a UK comeback

Dale Benton - Top 10 - Aug 22, 2016

Recently it has been announced that the South Crofty tin mine in Cornwall, UK, is being
reborn, with officials suggesting this could spark a revival of tin mining within the UK, we
take a look at some of things you need to know before tin mining enters the spotlight again
both in the UK and worldwide.
1: Tin and the power of technology
Historically, tin extraction can be dated back to the Bronze Age around 3000 BCE. Tin was
mined and used to smelt bronze, so it was a crucial factor in the very makeup of the Bronze
Age. Weapons, tools and even jewellery over the years have been a consequence of tin
mining, so its fair to say its played a huge part it human history. Fast forward to today, and
tin is used a little differently though still plays such an integral role in modern day. Tin
plate, a thin sheet of steel covered in a protective coating of tin, is used for food cans but
perhaps more importantly in this digital age, tin is primarily used in soldering paste on
circuit boards. Circuit boards of course, make up key elements in most if not all modern
technologies. Mobile phones, tablets and televisions to computers and laptops. Tin is also
used in the glass screens that feature on mobile phones, such vital technologies that we use
on a day to day basis has some element of tin involved.
2: Tin is running out or is it?
According to a report published by ITRI, the not for profit organisation representing the tin
industry, one of the reasons for an apparent decline in mining is not through a fall in
resources and reserves, but actually the perception of investors and miners. Global tin
production has been quite stable in recent years, with refined tin production between
333,000 tpy and 370,000 tpy and mine production between 270,000 tpy and 310,000. In an
estimate looking at 235 tin deposits worldwide, ITRI estimates that there is 11.7 Mt of tin
resources with a minimum life of 38 years and 2.2Mt of Tin
3: The future of tin is in our hands
The estimated life of tin resources and tin reserves is only that an estimate, but it is an
estimate that mining investors can control. Tin recycling is critical to the future of tin
supply, and that can only be achieved through investments into tin recycling technology.

From the analysis, at a global level there is no reason to suggest that remaining tin
deposits will be unable to sustain a long term, gradual upward trend in primary tin demand
well into the future, the report reads. A rise in the development of far more efficient
exploration and mining technologies is going to be needed to achieve this.
4: Lets get Bisie
Alphamin Resources, a pioneering tin exploration and mining business in DRC, is a tin
exploration company to keep an eye on as it looks to be the global premier conflict free
tin producer. The company have released a feasibility study of its Bisie Tin project, the
Mpama North prospect in North Kivu. The study revealed that the project will look to
produce 9,000 tonnes of tin in concentrate a year from 2019. This comes at an extremely
pertinent time as the DRC tin industry suffered a collapse in 2010, with Alphamin looking
to become the worlds premier tin suppliers. Alphamin Resources and the Bisie Tin Project
is definitely a project that will shape the future of global tin production and resources.
Look out in the coming months for our exclusive interview with Boris Kamstra, the CEO of
Alphamin Resources, as he talks to us about North Kivu and the important part the Bisie
Tin project will play on the future of tin mining.
5: A Cornish past time
The South Crofty Tin mine in Cornwall, UK, has recently been bought out of
administration from Strongbow Exploration. This acquisition and subsequent revival is
being tipped as the start of a renaissance for tin mining within the UK. South Crofty, the
final remaining tin mine in the country, closed its doors and shut off its pumps in 1998. At
its peak, Cornwall was flooded with tin mines 2,000 strong, making it a global leader in
tin production. Through foreign competition and supply across the globe, the prices of tin
fell and Cornwalls lofty status began to slip before the eventual closure of South Lofty.
But, international mining companies have started to turn to the UK. Australian based Wolf
Minerals recently opened the Hemerdon tungsten mine in Plymouth, the first new metals
mine in the UK in years. Couple this with Sirius Minerals and its UK Potash mine as well
as South Crofty and perhaps a mining renaissance is selling it short. Richard Williams,
Strongbows Wales-born chief executive, believes that if the South Crofty mine is
successfully restarted, it would attract international investors, as the mentality of opposing
mining within the UK seems to have changed.