Tin mining Dredging for ore off the islands shores has churned up sediment which has buried coral reefs where fish live and harmed the local fishing industry. This is despite a prohibition on mining in waters within four miles of Bangka’s shore. Tin mining Tin mining began early in the Bronze Age, as bronze is a copper-tin alloy. Tin is a relatively rare element in the Earth’s crust, with approximately 2 ppm (parts per million), compared to iron with 50,000 ppm. Tin extraction and use can be dated to the beginnings of the Bronze Age around 3000 BCE, when it was observed
Sundown Tin and Copper Mine and were mined from different shafts. With rising prices the mine was operating again in 1897, and much development work was carried out in 1898. By 1899 a smelter must have been erected, as 470 tons of ore was smelted for 53 tons of matte containing 30% copper and 50oz silver per ton, and 20 men were employed. More ore was raised in 1900, but the mine was under exemption through 1901-1903, a time of low copper prices. In 1904 the mine was described as having an open-cut on the tin portion, and on the copper section a tramway ran