THE TIN INDUSTRY AND ITS RESILIENCE TO THE ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN MALAYSIA

Abstract

Malaysia’s early economic development was initially driven by tin, a natural resource that is not renewable. For the majority of the 20th century, it accounted for a significant portion of export earnings. According to Sanchez & Hartlieb (2020), the tin industry has faced challenging operating environment sustainability over the past few decades, particularly in terms of decreasing ore grades, deeper deposits, and harder rock mass. Despite this, the mining industry has been urged to be more environmentally friendly in their operations due to the mining activity's negative effects on environmental stability, pollution, water quality, and biodiversity (Nurtjahya, Franklin, & Agustina, 2017). Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the already difficult situation for the tin industry. Whether they like it or not, the tin industry must overcome obstacles to survive. To put it another way, we need a strong tin industry that can bounce back from setbacks and move forward not only for success but also to make the country better. The adopting of digital technology to improve operation efficiency, green technology to lessen the impact on the environment, managing sufficient financial resources to overcome the economic crisis and encouraging product development to increase customer satisfaction are all options for making the industry resilient.