Tin

Tin bonds readily to iron and is used for coating lead or zinc and steel to prevent corrosion. In 2006, about half of tin produced was used in solder. The rest was divided between tin plating, tin chemicals, brass and bronze, and niche uses.


Cassiterite - SnO2
Cassiterite crystals in a matrix of mica and quartz from Elsmore, New South Wales, Australia
Tin price: 12 months
Tin charts on InfoMine.com
Click on CHART to view recent price trends



Links to tin supply and demand
List of base metal stocks with latest financial data


RankCountryWorld Mine Production, By Country (Metric tons) in 2009
1China115,000115000
2Indonesia55,00055000
3Peru37,50337503
4Bolivia19,27319273
5Brazil13,00013000
6Congo, The Democratic Republic Of The9,4009400
7Viet Nam3,5003500
8Malaysia2,3802380
9Australia1,4001400
10Russian Federation1,2001200
11Rwanda850850
12Lao People's Democratic Republic700700
13Myanmar672672
14Nigeria180180
15Thailand120120
16Portugal3030
17Burundi2121
18Mexico1515
19Niger1010
20Uganda22
Year of Estimate: 2009 

Major companies mining tin
Yunnan Tin Company Ltd is the largest tin producer in China and reportedly in the world with companies in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, producing more than two-thirds of the world's tin.
  • Malaysia Smelting Corporation with a combined production of 58,251 tonnes of tin metal from its Malaysian and Indonesian smelting operations in 2005 maintains its position as the world’s largest supplier of tin metal and tin based products, having contributed about 18% to the world’s production for two years’ consecutively.
  • PT Timah in Indonesia is an integrated tin mining company with a capacity of 50,000 tonnes per year.
  • PT Koba Tin, Indonesia's second biggest producer, produces 25,000 tonnes a year of tin. It is an integrated mining company involved in exploration, mining, processing, smelting and marketing of tin.

Tin mining and exploration in Africa



  • Kivu Resources Limited is active in the eastern DRC and Rwanda. Historically, the area was an important tin and tantalum producer. Kivu Resources, through its wholly owned local companies (Metal Processing Association SARL in Rwanda, Central African Resources SPRL and Mining and Processing Congo SPRL in the DRC) will hold a number of assets in the DRC and Rwanda including a management agreement with SAKIMA, a state owned company, in the DRC to manage tin and tantalum production from small scale miners; an option to acquire an 80% shareholding in SAKIMA's mining permits; a joint venture with the government of Rwanda on the Gatumba mining permits; as well as a number of prospecting permits in the region. A consortium consisting of EDIN Mining Limited, a mining investment company domiciled in the British Virgin Islands, Ireland based Coronation Capital Limited and Metmar Limited will acquire a 50% stake in Kivu Resources. The consortium has an option to increase its shareholding in Kivu Resources to 70%.