“Draft:Mining Dredges in Malaysia”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

Dredges was one of the main workhorses of the tin mining industry in Malaysia. It was an engineering masterpiece which had brought wealth and prosperity

to Malaysia. Out of a total of 3.33 million tonnes of tin-in-concentrate produced from 1929 to 2009, 1.32 million tonnes or 40 percent were from dredging. At today’s tin price of US$30,000 per tonne this amount of tin would be worth almost US$40 billion.^[1]

History

The first dredge was introduced into Malaya in 1913 and started operating in Batu Gajah, Perak. It was built in 1912 by the F.W Payne and Company. A fine example of pioneering technology, at its prime in 1929, there were 105 dredges operating in Malaysia. Dredging became the largest contributor to Malaysia’s tin production in 1931 (overtaking gravel pump mining) and remained as the largest contributor for 32 years until 1963. In 1986 it regained its top status and, except for 1989 and 1990, continued to be the top contributor until 1993. As a result of the significant contribution from dredging, Malaysia was for many decades the largest tin producer in the world and is still the largest all time producer of tin.^[1]^[2]

Contributions

The introduction of the dredge into Malaya in 1913 was one of the earliest examples of technology transfer as well as foreign direct investment. Malaysians soon became proficient and even experts in operating the dredge, including its maintenance. In fact, today, a Malaysian company has become a world leader in the construction of bucket line dredges and Malaysian expertise in dredging is very much sought after. A vibrant engineering and fabrication industry also developed because of the need to service the dredges.

The dredge indeed has given much to the nation. Money earned by this workhorse had been used to finance the early development of Malaysia. The engineering and fabrication industry, initially started to serve the tin mining industry, continued to develop and went on to serve other industries and prospered.

Unfortunately the number of operating dredges started to dwindle rapidly after 1993 and the last of the dredges ceased operation in 2003. Though no more the icon that it was, there is still so much to be said about the contribution the dredge has made to Malaysia.^[1]

Legacy

Today, out of many dredges that ever been built in Malaysia only two that still exist.

1) The TT5 (Tanjung Tualang Dredge No 5) from among the early generation of dredgers today is retained after the Perak State Government through MB Inc acquiring the dredge from the old management in 2015. The Dredge was designed and built by FW Payne in 1938 in England, and has undergone an upgrade from steam (coal) engines to full electricity in 1963. It was in operation for 44 years until August 1982 (due tin control).

MB Inc has allocated RM30 million to repair the TT5 dredger as well as having a long-term plan to enable the dredger the latter being an international tourism product especially in conjunction with the Visit Perak Year 2017.

The dredge was donated by Malaysia Mining Corporation (MMC) to the Perak State Government in the 1990s to be preserved as historical monument and tourist attraction. It is located at the 5th Mile Batu Gajah – Tanjung Tualang Road.

2) While the other one is a more modern dredge named [https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0x31cdb9c620619f03:0x99a1062db7061231!2m22!2m2!1i80!2i80!3m1!2i20!16m16!1b1!2m2!1m1!1e1!2m2!1m1!1e3!2m2!1m1!1e5!2m2!1m1!1e4!2m2!1m1!1e6!3m1!7e115!4shttps://lh5.googleusercontent.com/p/AF1QipP-I8lM64PkJCEyVqwOZPMRj1SSsFzfTDJZ-H16%3Dw213-h160-k-no!5ssri+banting+dredge+-+Google+Search&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipP-I8lM64PkJCEyVqwOZPMRj1SSsFzfTDJZ-H16&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiu9MP2qZrdAhXYdysKHXZsBMgQoiowFXoECAYQCQ Sri Banting] built around 1974 located near the UiTM Dengkil and now available for sale. The Sri Banting ceased operation in year 2000.

With Sri Banting's uncertain fate, TT5 dredge is often said to be the last and the only tin dredge standing in the country.

References

1. ^¹²{{Cite web|url=http://malaysianminerals.com/savethedredge.pdf|website=malaysianminerals.com|access-date=2018-12-17}}
2. ^{{Cite web|url=http://hids.arkib.gov.my/en/peristiwa/-/asset_publisher/WAhqbCYR9ww2/content/penubuhan-malayan-tin-dredjing-limited-mtd-/pop_up?_101_INSTANCE_WAhqbCYR9ww2_viewMode=print|title=The Establishment Of The Malayan Tin Dredging Limited (MTD) -|website=hids.arkib.gov.my|access-date=2018-12-17}}