Korea Zinc Chairman Choi Yun-beom is personally commanding the company's 10.9 trillion won ($7.8 billion) integrated smelter project in Clarksville, Tennessee, accelerating efforts to secure rare earth supplies and stabilize the US supply chain.
According to industry sources on the 22nd, Chairman Choi has established the Crucible Business Division under his direct control and is serving as its head—a rare move among major conglomerates where chairmen typically delegate such operational roles.
The division has assembled an elite "one team" spanning technology and finance, with Presidents Park Ki-won and Lee Seung-ho deployed to the unit. Approximately 70 personnel have been transferred to the division, including veteran engineers from the Onsan smelter—Korea Zinc's operational core—and finance specialists from headquarters.
The Tennessee smelter will span 160 acres in Clarksville and produce 500,000 to 550,000 tons annually of 13 non-ferrous metals, including zinc, copper, gold, silver, indium, antimony, and bismuth. This represents roughly half the output of the company's 1.1-million-ton Onsan facility in Ulsan, enabling faster supply to US customers.
The critical minerals that Korea Zinc extracts from e-waste and spent batteries at low cost and high efficiency are essential materials for automotive components, solar cells, and superconductors. US President Donald Trump has praised Crucible Metals—a joint venture between Korea Zinc and the US government—as "a big win for America."
Korea Zinc had planned to begin site preparation and foundation work in the first quarter, select an EPC contractor and complete major equipment orders in the fourth quarter, with groundbreaking scheduled for early next year. However, observers suggest construction could be moved up to this year considering the US midterm elections. The company plans to complete construction over two years and begin operations in 2029.
The US Department of the Interior is cooperating with Tennessee state authorities to streamline permitting procedures, raising prospects that the Crucible project could benefit from expedited groundbreaking and completion. The US side is also eager to achieve tangible results before President Trump's term ends in January 2029.
Attention is focused on what vision and specific plans Korea Zinc will present to shareholders regarding the Crucible project at its annual general meeting on the 24th at Koreana Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. Chairman Choi, who assumed the chairmanship in December 2022, leveraged his extensive international network to propose the integrated US smelter concept and secured large-scale investment from the US Department of War (Department of Defense).
"Korea Zinc is making significant contributions to strengthening the Korea-US alliance at a time when geopolitical crises are spreading," an industry official said.
As critical minerals grow increasingly important, Korea Zinc's stature has soared given its possession of numerous nationally designated core technologies. The company recently developed technology to extract mixed light and heavy rare earth elements from waste rare earth magnets obtained by dismantling and separating used motors, and is now seeking stable raw material supply chains for commercial production. It also plans to complete expansion of Korea's largest semiconductor-grade sulfuric acid production line in the second half of this year, increasing annual capacity to 320,000 tons.
Despite ongoing management control threats from Youngpoong and MBK Partners for a second consecutive year, Chairman Choi delivered record results last year with revenues of 16.6 trillion won. Korea Zinc's operating profit reached 1.23 trillion won, extending its consecutive quarterly profit streak to 104 quarters. Financial industry observers forecast that Korea Zinc could surpass 20 trillion won in annual revenue for the first time since its founding in 1974.
