Leading United States-based secondary tin producer Nathan Trotter has broken ground on its $65 million Tin Ridge smelter in Virginia.
Alongside Nathan Trotter leadership and American lawmakers, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin and Secretary of Commerce & Trader Juan Pablo Segura attended the ceremony to commence construction at the site.
Despite being the world’s second largest consumer of tin and designating tin a critical mineral, the United States is currently approximately 75% reliant on imports, possessing only limited domestic secondary production of tin at a variety of grades.
Nathan Trotter VP and Partner Tyler Morris commented: “Our new state-of-the-art tin processing facility will play an important and historic role in strengthening our nation’s fragile tin supply chain, as global competition and demand for critical minerals reaches extraordinary levels”.
Other speakers at the event highlighted the benefits the project will bring to the local economy as well as to national security in reshoring critical mineral supply chains.
The 115,000-square-foot facility, designed to process both concentrates and scrap, is expected to create an estimated 118 new jobs in the State.
The company received a $19 million funding package from the Department of Defense in October 2024 to expand the country’s tin smelting and refining capacity, and subsequently signed a letter of intent with Rwandan tin miner Trinity Metals in May 2025 to establish a US-Rwandan tin supply chain.
Our view: ITA commends Nathan Trotter and its partners on the progress made towards expanding tin production in the world’s largest tin importing nation. As critical minerals become more widely and extensively discussed, we are pleased to see lawmakers’ recognition of the strategic importance of tin to a variety of industries including energy transition technologies.
