"We Will Safeguard Critical Mineral Security"...Korea Zinc Launches U.S. Integrated Smelter Project 'Crucible'

According to Financial News, Korea Zinc has announced the full-scale launch of "Project Crucible," its integrated smelter construction project in the United States. As global competition over critical mineral supply chains intensifies, the company aims to establish a local hub for "mineral security" in the U.S.
Korea Zinc stated on the 2nd that it held a "Day One" event on the 1st (local time) in Clarksville, Tennessee, to celebrate the launch of Crucible Zinc and its affiliated companies.
The event was held under the slogan "A Crucial Moment: One Team, One Direction." It formally welcomed employees from the existing Nyrstar USA smelter and mines and served as a venue to share the overall project vision.
Chairman Choi Yun-beom, who oversees the project, attended the event along with key executives, including President Park Ki-won (E&C PM) and President Lee Seung-ho (CFO and VC PM). Local dignitaries such as State of Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Stuart C. McWhorter and Wes Golden, mayor of Montgomery County, Tennessee, were also present.
Through this project, Korea Zinc plans to build a critical mineral supply chain within the United States. As geopolitical uncertainties such as risks in the Middle East grow, reducing dependence on specific countries and securing stable raw materials have become matters of national security.
Chairman Choi said, "Through Project Crucible, we are opening a new future that goes beyond Korea Zinc's past 52 years and embarking on a journey to safeguard national security for critical minerals for future generations." He added, "We will concentrate all our capabilities, experience, and cutting-edge technologies in Clarksville, Tennessee, to build the world's best critical mineral processing facility."
The project is moving forward in cooperation with the federal government of the United States on permitting and financing. Site preparation is scheduled to begin this year, with construction to start next year and completion targeted for 2029. Once operational, the facility will produce base metals such as zinc, lead, and copper, as well as critical minerals including germanium, gallium, and indium, and semiconductor-grade sulfuric acid.
Korea Zinc plans to secure initial operational stability by taking on the existing workforce from the Nyrstar USA smelter and then achieve an early ramp-up by creating synergies with core personnel from its headquarters. Drawing on his experience operating the SMC Refinery in Australia, Chairman Choi is emphasizing field-oriented management and mutual growth with the local community as key values.
Another defining feature of the project is resource recovery based on recycling. Korea Zinc intends to reprocess about 620,000 tons of by-products stored on the smelter site to recover strategic minerals such as germanium, gallium, and indium. In parallel, the company will secure raw materials from two of its own mines, with the goal of building an integrated value chain that spans mining, smelting, and recycling. Industry observers say that by expanding its bases from Onsan in Korea and Australia to now the United States, Korea Zinc is completing a "triangular axis" of global critical mineral supply chains.

solidkjy@fnnews.com Reporter Gu Ja-yoon Reporter