Established through a
consortium between Japanese and Malaysian companies, the mine began its production in 1975 and produced a total of of minerals valued at $11.5 million, which was exported overseas. Towards the end of 1991, the number of workers in the mine increased to 1,191 from only 100, with 99% of those employed being Malaysian. It is estimated that together with their families, the total number of people dependent on their livelihood in the mine is over 10,000. The first production of the copper mine also showed that Malaysia was rich in
natural resources that contributed to the country's output with most copper,
silver and
gold produced in
East Malaysia. Minerals gathered from the mine were trucked to
Kota Belud District before being shipped to
Japan for refining. Further in 2016, Sabah Deputy Chief Minister
Joseph Pairin Kitingan said the local authorities were looking at the possibility of treating the 20.6 million cubic metres of acidic water at the mine pit to overcome
water shortage in Sabah caused by drought although this proposal later was considered by a local
geologist as unfeasible and costly since even if the water could be treated with
acid mine drainage (AMD) method to neutralise its acidity, other
minerals and heavy metals are still present in the water that made it unfit for human consumption and need more cost to clean the water. == See also ==