Tin is produced from both primary and secondary sources. Secondary tin is produced from recycled materis. The major tin producing countries are Indonesia, Malaya, Bolivia, China and Nigeria. The physical appearance of tin is a silvery white lustrous metal, withg a blueish tinge. It also has noticeable characteristics of softness and malleability.
Tin is comparatively easy to reduce to metal form oxide by pyrometallurgy.
In this process, the tin tends to be absorbed into slag and thus the process needs to be repeated. The impure tin is then refined by melting in a sloping hearth which allows the metal to run off. Electrolytic refining produced a tin of greater purity. Since 1940, the traditional hot dip method of making tin plate has been largely replaced by electro-deposition of tin on continous strips of rolled steel. Tin plate cans find their most important use in the packagijng of food products, beer, and soft drinks, but they are also used for holding paint, motor oil, disinfectants, detergents, and polishes.