Impacts of Tin Mining (2024)

Social impacts of Tin mining in Bangka

Tin mining has social impacts that have a negative effect on the people who are mining. This is because the working conditions are dangerous in Bangka for mining for tin as many mines are illegal and some are even employing children. BBC found children digging for tin in mud pits in Bangka. Children are at a serious risk of being buried in landslides because the walls of the open mines get hosed down to find more tin ore for iPhone and Samsung parts. Mining on shore is dangerous because the mud pits that they work in, frequently have landslides so it’s common that workers get buried alive from the landslides. However Mining offshore is the most dangerous because there are pits beneath the water which are created by drawing ore from the seabed which is deep and can easily collapse, therefore divers get buried under metres of sand. Some of the miners operate in private, licensed concessions, but the majority work on illegal sites all over the island, most are in the middle of protected forests. In illegal mining pits, child labour is common and there are more work related injuries and fatal accidents that occur. An estimated 53 miners in Bangka die each year from tin mining which is almost one miner a week. Mining holes that haven’t been covered up become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, the changes of getting Malaria in Bangka has increased to 29.3 per 1,000 people.

Economic impacts of Tin mining in Bangka

Tin mining has a positive and negative economic impacts on Bangka-Belitung province because the mining counts for 60% of the provinces revenue with 35 companies involved and related industries. Tin mining's revenue in the province is now over £42m and 30% of the worlds tin comes from Bangka. 40 per cent of the one million people who live in Bangka's population work in the mining industry. Although Bangkas locals know that mining is bad on the environment, they have no alternative as they can get up to $10 a day which is double what they would get working in the agriculture industry. It’s also harder for fishermen to be able to fish because before mining started which was around 13 years ago people could fish within 6.5 km of the coast, however now they have to throw their nets as far as 27km to fish because of mining which has scared the fish away. As a result most fishermen have turned to mining because over the years dredgers and suction ships owned have polluted the water and destroyed coral reefs off the coast, which have driven the fish away. Therefore mining has made people quit their jobs, like the fishermen and agriculture workers and made them miners. About 80% of the island's population depends on mining. The tourism industry used to count for a lot of Bangkas revenue. Tourists come to Bangka island because of its beautiful scenery and snorkeling, however tourism is decreasing because of the mining which has destroyed the environment. The eastern beaches of Bangka are very rich in tin, but is also a popular tourist destination. Therefore people will mine on the eastern beaches, making the environment noisy and the water becomes dirty. This effects Bangkas tourism because the majority of people who go to Bangka go to the eastern beaches, which are becoming more polluted and unpleasant, therefore less people will come to visit Bangka. An example of less people visiting Bangkas beaches is where Parai beach restort and spa is which is a four-star resort. Despite a location on one of Bangka's most popular beaches, occupancy here is down 90% – all because of the seabed mining which started happening last year. Tourism which used to count for a lot of Banga-Belitung provinces revenue has now dropped dramatically and is just brings in a mere fraction of what mining earns – just £810,000 compared with mining's £42m.