U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has officially cited Korea Zinc's investment in the U.S. critical minerals supply chain, drawing attention to the economic security cooperation between South Korea and the United States.

As economic security cooperation between the U.S. and South Korea expands into the critical minerals supply chain sector, Korea Zinc's 'Project Crucible' has emerged as a representative case where the interests of both nations align.

■ $7.4 Billion 'Project Crucible'… Direct U.S. Investment and 'FAST-41' Designation In the process of restructuring its domestic critical minerals supply chain, the United States has positioned Korea Zinc's smelting and refining technology to play a crucial role. The U.S. federal government is participating as a direct investor in the project and has designated it under 'FAST-41,' a program designed to expedite the permitting process for large-scale infrastructure projects, underscoring its strategic importance.

Korea Zinc will acquire existing zinc smelters and related mines in the U.S. to launch 'Crucible Zinc.' The company is also pursuing plans to recover critical minerals from approximately 620,000 tons of byproducts accumulated at five local smelter slag dumps. The approach involves applying the resource circulation technology developed at Korea Zinc's Onsan Smelter in Ulsan to U.S. operations, utilizing not only new raw materials but also industrial byproducts and scrap. This offers the advantage of accelerating project progress compared to building a new smelter from the ground up.

■ Synergy of U.S. Mineral Resources and Korean Smelting & Refining Technology The core of this project lies in combining Korean smelting and refining technology with the mineral resources and industrial infrastructure of the United States. While the U.S. possesses abundant mineral resources including lithium and copper, it has been considered relatively lacking in the smelting and refining capacity needed to process them into high-purity metals and materials suitable for industrial use. Accordingly, the U.S. government has been focusing on building a domestic supply chain that encompasses mining, processing, refining, and manufacturing.

Project Crucible will produce 11 of the 50 critical minerals designated by the U.S. government, including zinc, lead, copper, and silver, as well as antimony, indium, bismuth, tellurium, palladium, gallium, and germanium. In particular, minerals such as gallium, germanium, indium, and antimony are considered strategic minerals essential to the semiconductor, defense, telecommunications, and energy industries. The ability to simultaneously produce and recover multiple critical minerals at a single integrated smelter is a key factor that enhances supply chain efficiency from the U.S. perspective.

Over decades of non-ferrous metal production, Korea Zinc has accumulated integrated process technologies for handling complex, low-grade raw materials and recovering rare metals from byproducts. This technology will also be applied to the U.S. integrated smelter, and the project is being recognized as a resource-circulating, eco-friendly business model that even recycles byproducts and scrap that would otherwise be discarded, turning waste back into resources.

■ Secretary Lutnick: "Cannot Depend on Adversarial Nations"… Emphasizes Cooperation with Allies U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recently explained plans to build a domestic critical minerals supply chain at a U.S. Department of State roundtable in Washington, D.C., attended by President Trump, directly citing Korea Zinc's $7.4 billion U.S. critical minerals smelter project as a major investment example.

Secretary Lutnick emphasized the need to build a domestic supply chain, stating, "To maintain competitiveness in advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors, energy, and defense, we cannot rely on overseas adversarial nations for the raw materials that form the foundation of our industries." He also expressed his commitment to expanding cooperation with companies from allied nations, adding, "We will secure reliable supplies and strengthen global partnerships."

Industry experts evaluated that while the U.S. possesses mineral resources, it lacks the capacity to produce materials that can be used in actual industries. Therefore, Project Crucible is regarded as a U.S.-South Korea economic security cooperation project that combines Korea's smelting technology with America's resources, market, and policy capabilities.

Following the recent remarks by the U.S. Commerce Secretary, Korea Zinc's stock price surged by around 12% in the domestic stock market. Observers interpret this as being directly tied to the U.S. backdrop of seeking to secure not only mine development but also smelting and refining technologies, given that the strategic value of critical minerals will inevitably grow as competition in AI, semiconductors, and batteries intensifies.