The view of Safa Deswita (6) is fixed on the miniature of tin mining activities in the past. His palms were sticking to the glass of maket while listening to the explanations of the museum guides.

Curiosity led him to find out the origin of tin that became the main commodity in the area where he lived, Bangka Belitung.

Safa is a student of PAUD Ar-Ridho, Pendindang, Pangkalan Baru, Bangka Tengah. Late last January, he came with 25 friends accompanied by four teachers to undergo field study at Museum Tin, Pangkal Pinang, Bangka Belitung.

Safa did not know what it was. In fact, the land where it stands is now the largest tin producer in Indonesia, even in the world. Traveling around the museum that used to be a resident in the Dutch colonial era seemed to return to the journey of tin in the past.

Almost two hours Safa and his friends were invited to play and learn about the history of tin, including the progress of his exploration.

In the museum area of ​​1000 square meters was presented 147 collections collected from various angles of the province of Bangka Belitung which open up new knowledge for visitors.

Muhammad Taufik, Section Head of Museum Tin Pangkal Pinang, who was then a museum guide, explained in detail the development of tin in Bangka. Early mining was conducted in the 5th century with very simple tools.

Wood crowbar is used to make wells. The well of tin excavation is known as palembang well. In fact, tin washing was done with coconut shells and wooden claws.

"At that time, the mining process is not so difficult because tin ore is still on the surface of the soil," he said.

As the times progress and the deeper the existence of tin underground, the drilling process is done. In the 18th century, drilling was done with a piercing drill which Chinese merchants introduced. At that time, this kind of method is called ciam, which means pointed tip.

Drilling continues with the bangka drill method that began to be used in 1885. This method was created by JE Akkeringa, a geologist.

This tool is useful for alluvial layer drilling with a depth of less than 40 meters. Drill methods of bangka continue to be developed and modified to dig deeper tin.

Taufik said, at the time of mining in the Dutch era, workers were brought from China because at that time they were known adept at mining tin. That is the origin of the arrival of citizens of descent in Bangka Belitung.

Not only on land, tin mining also began to expand to offshore mining. Mining of this type using dredgers. In fact, currently, 70 percent of tin mining has been done in the Sea of ​​Bangka.

According to Taufik, offshore mining in Indonesia using first dredgers was done in 1910 at Dabo Singkep Beach. In the 21st century, dredger technology continues to grow. Some of them are used to exploit tin in the Bangka Sea.

Based on the wealth of history and natural resources make tin as a commodity mainstay of the population in Bangka Belitung.

Based on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, the export value of Bangka Belitung in December 2015 reached 110.30 million US dollars. Of these, tin contributed 81.71 percent.

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