A tantalum story for CREIf only the Malaysian thieves had money to invest in CRE:
Tantalum thieves lured by 300% price hike
THE rising price of tantalum due to its high demand and scarcity may have tempted thieves to break into two empty houses in Penang to dig for the “hidden treasure”.
Universiti Sains Malaysia Advanced Minerals and Quarrying, Environment, Science and Technology (Amquest) Research Cluster head Datuk Prof Eric Goh said the price for processed tantalum has increased by 300% from RM400 per kg in 2008 to RM1,200 per kg today.
He said the tantalum found in the houses was most probably the waste pile left by the tin smelting activities in those days.
“Those who went to dig the minerals could be senior individuals who are aware of the pile sites when tantalum was not that valuable at that time,” he said.
Prof Goh was commenting on a Sunday Star report about thieves who broke into two dilapidated double-storey houses on Patani Road and dug several holes to obtain the tantalum, which is also known as orr kim (Hokkien for black gold).
The two houses, along with three others, belong to the Penang Municipal Council’s (MPPP) Valuation Department.
The houses used to be the employees’ quarters but had been abandoned.
Tantalum is a hard and rare metallic element mostly used in the electronics, electrical, automobile and medical industries.
It is used mainly in the production of electronic components commonly found in mobile phones, digital cameras, video cameras and laptops.
Independant to the article, would someone please tell Joe and the market that tantalum is up 300%. They seem to think it is down 300% with CRE trading at a 52 week low.