Nathan Trotter plans $65M tin processing plant in Southern Virginia

Nathan Trotter, a Pennsylvania-based supplier and recycler of tin and tin alloy products, plans to invest $65 million in a Henry County tin processing operation that’s expected to create 118 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced in Martinsville Tuesday.

The 115,000-square-foot Tin Ridge processing facility is slated for development on 44 acres at the Patriot Centre Industrial Park, north of Martinsville. The facility is expected to be in operation by the end of 2026, a Nathan Trotter spokesperson said. 

Tin is included on a 2022 list from the U.S. Secretary of the Interior of mineral commodities critical to the U.S. economy and national security. The metal is used in solder to enable electrical connections for electrical components, making it essential for products such as smartphones and electric vehicles as well as defense systems and aerospace technologies.

“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,” Tyler Morris, a vice president and partner at Nathan Trotter, said in a news release.

The Henry County facility will be capable of refining volumes of both tin concentrate and scrap tin.

Family-owned and operated since 1789, Nathan Trotter has four tin refining and finishing plants in Pennsylvania.

In September, the newly rebranded U.S. Department of War awarded Nathan Trotter $19 million as part of the Defense Production Act Investment (DPAI) program to establish a domestic facility to increase capacity for the smelting, refining and recycling of tin. That money is part of the $65 million investment, according to a spokesperson for Nathan Trotter.

For the facility in Henry County, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Henry County and the Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corp. to secure the project for Virginia.

Gov. Youngkin approved a $1.5 million grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund for the project. Nathan Trotter will also receive assistance through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program, which provides services and funding to support recruitment and training for companies creating new jobs

“Nathan Trotter’s historic investment in Henry County only strengthens our national defense supply chain while also creating new, high-quality jobs and career opportunities in advanced manufacturing for the people of Southern Virginia,” Youngkin said in the release.

Editor’s note: this story has been updated