Apologies, but a question from the peanut gallery:
Which part is out of date, and what references do you have?
-----Original Message-----
From: Leadfree [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Kay Nimmo
Sent: Monday, February 07, 2005 7:22 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [LF] "Tin is consided the most political of all metals" -
Wachovia Economics Grp NTC
Your information is rather out of date.
Kay
-----Original Message-----
From: Brian Ellis [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 07 February 2005 12:11
To: (Leadfree Electronics Assembly Forum); Kay Nimmo
Subject: Re: [LF] "Tin is consided the most political of all metals" -
Wachovia Economics Grp NTC
Sorry, I quote from http://www.earthsci.org/mindep/depfile/tin.htm
"Only about 20 percent of the world's tin deposits occur as primary
hard-rock veins or lodes."
"About 80 percent of the world's tin deposits occur not as primary
lodes, but as unconsolidated secondary or placer deposits in river beds
and valleys or on the sea floor."
"Brazil
In 1990 Brazil was the world's largest producer of tin-in-ore. Almost
90% of the country's production is obtained from the Pitinga mine about
300 km northeast of Manaus in the Mapuere region of the state of
Amazonas. "The high grade alluvial deposits at Pitinga were discovered
at the end
of the 1970s in the course of a five-year exploration programme. These
deposits are shallow with a maximum working depth for dredging of six
metres."
"Malaysia
Malaysia's principal tin deposits occur in a strip of land about 400 km
long and 60 km wide between the towns of Georgetown and Melaka, along
the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
"Most Malaysian tin comes from two states, Perak and Selangor, which
together account for about 90 percent of the country's tin mining
output; tin has been produced in Malaysia for more than 2,000 years.
"The principal methods of mining are by gravel pump and dredging which
account for about 80 percent of total mine output. However during the
1980s there was a substantial fall in the number of gravel pump
producers, as it became uneconomic to produce tin in such small mining
units in view of the low world price. "
"Total mined production of tin in 1990 (as ores and concentrates) was
211,000 tonnes, with the major producing nations being Brazil, China,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Bolivia and Thailand."
So this site does not consider Malaysia to be "very minor", as you do.
In fact, it is classed as a "major producing nation", accounting for
about 10% of the global production. The largest is Brazil, also
exploiting alluvial deposits. Unfortunately, these are very thin, so the
area devastated is even larger per tonne Sn than in the Far East.
Alluvial land dredging can be carried out only by deforestation of vast
areas and primary rain forest cannot be re-established, as you state. At
the best, a secondary jungle will start growing after 20-50 years, but
this is low-growing bushy growth with sparse trees, very distant from
the magnificent primary growth in Brazil and the Far East. As for
rehabilitating it for farmland, this requires massive amounts of
imported fertilizers (requiring petroleum for its manufacture) and humus
and a lot of hard work.
When I was in Ipoh, I saw how the Malaysians did it on the cheap. They
tethered a goat in the middle of the field, with a cane shelter from the
sun, with freedom over a radius of about 2 m. Each day, they used their
bicycle to wheel a huge bale of grass to feed the goat on this yellow
desert. Little by little, grass started to grow over the 2 m radius, so
they lengthened the tether, still bringing in grass. After three years,
they had a radius of 10 m growing grass, so they replaced the goat with
a cow, which accelerated the growth rate. After five or six years, they
were able to plough the field and sow their first crop, usually chili
peppers. However, the field would support only one twelve-week crop per
two years, with grazing the rest of the time to add humus.
I maintain that tin mining is very destructive to the environment,
despite your misleading claims.
Brian
Kay Nimmo wrote:
> Malaysia is a very minor producer.
> Indonesian deposits are obtained from sea dredging and from land
> dredging - land which is returned to the original state or developed
for
> farmland for the local community (whichever they prefer).
> The major producer in Latin America uses hard rock mining in the
Andes.
> The major producer in the EU is a secondary recyling plant.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Leadfree [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Brian Ellis
> Sent: 07 February 2005 08:14
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [LF] "Tin is consided the most political of all metals" -
> Wachovia Economics Grp NTC
>
>
> And this is the biggest reason why LF should never have been thought
> about. The major producers are Malaysia, Indonesia and tropical Latin
> America. The tin ore is in alluvial deposits laid down geologically a
> long time ago. To exploit it, the tropical rain forest is removed and
> the deposits are washed away with high pressure water and collected in
> settling tamks: the bottom layer is gold (small quantities, but
> worthwhile, tin ore and then the sandy soil). Unimaginably vast areas
> of tropical rain forest are devastated so that we can solder. The
> whole of Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur is built on such devastation
> and that represents only a tiny percentage of the area between it and
> Ipoh, several hundred km to the North.
>
> As LF solder has 50% more tin and solder is a major tin consumer, this
> legislation is causing a significant increase in the rate of
> destruction of that unique biotope, the tropical rain forest. What we
> need is a tin-free solder to save our forests! Is it any coincidence
> that the vested interests of the tin industry have helped to promote
> LF?
>
> Brian
>
> Joe Fjelstad wrote:
>
>>FYI&C...
>>
>>Tin: Rising Prices and Import Volumes
>>
>>According to the U.S. Geological Survey, there has been no tin mined
>>or produced in the United States since 1993. Last year, the volume of
>>tin imports increased 37 percent, while the price soared 66 percent
>>(bottom graph [not shown]). The global supply of tin is relatively
>>inelastic, and is focused in Asia and other parts of the third world.
>>Tin is considered the most political of all metals for this reason.
>>
>>Source: Wachovia Economics Group
>>Report date: December 24, 2004
>>
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