The restriction on traditional tin mining may not affect tin production from Indonesia, as production from bigger miners such as PT Timah Tbk (TINS.JK) -- the world's largest integrated tin miner -- and PT Koba Tin would remain, Governor Eko Maulana Ali told Reuters.
Centuries of unregulated tin mining in the Bangka-Belitung islands, off Sumatra, has greatly damaged the islands. From the air, the islands look like a lunar landscape of craters with hundreds of turquoise and highly acidic lakes.
Indonesia supplies nearly 30 percent of the world's tin consumption, and most of it comes from Bangka.
"Traditional tin mining has been expanding. Farmers and fishermen have now switched to mine tin," Ali said.
"Looking at the damage they have caused on the environment, we are working on a strategy to stop all traditional mining by 2015," he said.
Tin mining has damaged 65 percent of a total 657,510 hectares of forest areas in Bangka-Belitung, data from the Bangka-Belitung forestry office shows.
The governor did not elaborate on the steps to stop traditional mining.
The provincial government would help traditional miners to switch to other work in tourism, agriculture, fishing, plantations and other industry, he added.
Limiting traditional mining could have an impact on small, independent smelters which source 80 percent of their tin ore supply from traditional miners.
