Tanjung Tualang Tin Dredge No.5 or TT5, the last tin dredge in Malaysia.

Tin rush in Perak began from 1848 in Taiping. Perak became the wealthiest state in Malaya. Its capital Ipoh was fondly known to many as “The City of Millionaires”.

Panning (‘mendulang’ or ‘melampan’) was the earliest method to source for tin ore. In January 1913, Malayan Tin Dredging (MTD) introduced the first dredge in Batu Gajah.  The cost to build one dredge then was nearly RM 40 million and with 123 dredges in 1940, the total foreign investment for dredging industry was about RM 4 billion.

Due to declined tin price, operations started to shut down and ‘floating factories’ were dismantled or sold off. Today, there is only one remaining tin dredge known as Tanjung Tualang Tin Dredge No. 5 or TT5. It was built in England by F.W. Payne & Sons in 1938, upgraded in 1963 and had continued its operation for 44 years until August 1982.  In 1997, Malaysian Mining Corporation (MMC) donated TT5 to the Perak State Government.