Trump Admin Partners With Korea Zinc to Build $7.4 Billion Smelter in US

The deal, pending regulatory approval, is expected to close in the first half of 2026.
Trump Admin Partners With Korea Zinc to Build $7.4 Billion Smelter in US
The logo of Korea Zinc is pictured during a press conference in Seoul, South Korea, on Oct. 22, 2024. Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters
|Updated:

The Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to onshore the production of critical minerals took another step forward on Dec. 15 with the announcement that the world’s largest zinc smelter would be building a multibillion-dollar mineral smelting and processing facility in Tennessee.

Korea Zinc Co.’s $7.4 billion zinc smelter will produce as much as 540,000 tons of essential minerals per year, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a post on X.
Rob Sabo
Rob Sabo
Author
Rob Sabo has worked as a business journalist for nearly two decades and covers a broad range of business topics for The Epoch Times.