INGENIEUR
Original Motor Pumps, Pipelines, Pumps
There is a larger modern tin dredge, known
as Tanjung Tualang Kapal Korek No. 5 or simply
TT5, which can be found at Batu 7 Jalan Tanjung
Tualang, Batu Gajah, Perak. It is not working
anymore but is secured in a paddock as a living
tin dredge monument dedicated to the glorious
mining heritage of Perak. According to historical
data, TT5 was built in England in 1938 by F.W
Payne & Sons, a major dredge engineering
company at the time. It was built for the Southern
Malayan Dredging Ltd., a company established
in 1926 as a subsidiary of the largest mining
company in Malaya at that time, namely Malayan
Mining Corporation (MMC). TT5 was built and
shipped over to Malaya in pieces and the
company took more than a year to assemble and
commission it. During its heyday, the company
operated seven tin dredges including TT5 at Batu
Gajah area.
TT5 resembles a floating steel factory that is
supported by a large pontoon measuring 75m
long, 35m wide and 3.1m deep. Total weight
is 4,500 ton and it is three stories in height.
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Originally it was powered by a coal fired steam
engine before it was replaced with an electrical
driven turbine in 1963 with an output of 2247
horsepower. TT5 is a mechanical bucket line
dredge. The front excavating part consists of 115
buckets with each weighing two tons with capacity
of 0.50976 m 3 . The buckets are connected by a
revolving ladder system. It is capable of excavating
tin ore underwater to a depth of 33m. The yearly
dredging capacity is rated at 358,000 m 3 .
During mining operations, each bucket turns
to scoop up a load of underwater tin bearing soil
and delivers it to a system of oscillating drums and
jigs where separation and washing is performed. At
the end of the process, heavy tin ore, scientifically
called cassiterite, containing 75% metallic tin is
recovered. It is packed in bags and transported to
a processing plant. The remaining waste materials
from the separation process are discharged from
the rear of the dredge into the pond through chutes.
TT5 operated for 44 years until 1982 when it
was shut down due to its high operating costs and
the rapid declining international tin price. Nearly