State tin company Timah (TINS) will build a tin smelter in Nigeria as part of the company’s expansion and secure new tin ore reserves. In 2017 the company has said to invest billions of US dollars in the Nigerian minerals and mining sector.

Timah’s Director for Business Development and Commerce, Trenggono Sutioso said on Friday (Mar 16) the tin ore company has signed a Joint Venture Agreement (JV) with Topwide Ventures Limited to explore and manage the exploration, mining, processing and refining, transportation, sales and marketing of tin and mineral derivatives that exist in the African Continent.

The new JV will soon complete the process early and followed by building factories this year. The JV company’s future is aimed to optimize the mining concession area of 16,000 hectares, and is targeted to have an early stage production capacity of up to 5,000 metric ton ingots per year.