Toyota Tsusho Corp., the trading house part-owned by Toyota Motor Corp., Japan's largest automaker, plans to buy a stake in the Achmmach tin project in Morocco from Kasbah Resources Ltd., the two companies said.
Toyota Tsusho has an option to acquire as much as 20 percent of the project, Kasbah said in a filing to Australia's main stock exchange Monday. The firm will pay 16 million Australian dollars ($16.9 million) after signing the deal and completing a prefeasibility study, Kasbah said.
Tin has gained 19 percent this year, the best performer among six base metals on the London Metal Exchange, after declining 29 percent last year.
"We aim to secure stable supplies from mines in a market that is facing concerns of a shortage," Toyota Tsusho spokesman Morimasa Konishi said. The company expects the project to produce 10,000 tons of concentrate a year, he said.