'A leader with vision': Sen. Blackburn visits Project Crucible construction site in Tennessee

<style ref="s0">Korea Zinc said Wednesday that US Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) visited the Project Crucible site and Crucible Zinc in Clarksville, Tennessee, on Saturday to review the project's progress, future plans and overall vision.</style>

Blackburn is the Republican Party's leading candidate for governor of Tennessee in the US midterm elections this November. Tennessee has been a Republican stronghold, with the party winning the gubernatorial race for 16 consecutive years.

The visit was arranged to review the progress of Project Crucible — a US integrated critical minerals smelting facility Korea Zinc is building to support economic security cooperation between South Korea and the United States and to stabilize critical mineral supply chains — and to discuss ways to ensure the project moves forward smoothly.

Blackburn met with Korea Zinc executives that day and received a detailed briefing on the project's current status, construction plans for the integrated US smelter and its future operational direction. She praised Korea Zinc's world-class smelting technology and operational expertise.

Blackburn then toured the Project Crucible site, examining the planned layout of the integrated smelter and key facility construction plans. She also exchanged views on the project's expected benefits — including strengthening the US critical mineral supply chain, creating quality jobs and boosting the local economy — and expressed her commitment to active cooperation.

"It was an honor to be with these innovative people and to hear firsthand about the advanced technology they are bringing to Tennessee," Blackburn said. "Project Crucible is a generational investment that creates new opportunities for Tennessee families and helps secure the critical capabilities America needs to compete on the world stage — it is a vitally important project for Tennessee's continued growth."

She added that Korea Zinc Chairman Yun B. Choi "is a leader with vision and a sense of responsibility," and that she has "full confidence in the management and technical teams leading the largest project in Tennessee's history." She said she looks forward to "continuing a great partnership and achieving ongoing success."

Korea Zinc President Rhee Seung-ho said the project's greatest competitive strength ultimately lies in its people, and that the technology and operational know-how they have accumulated at the Onsan Smelter will be the driving force behind completing a world-class integrated smelter. "We will continue to push Project Crucible forward successfully and strengthen Korea Zinc's competitiveness within the global critical mineral supply chain," he said.

Project Crucible is the largest private-sector investment project in Tennessee's history. Once completed, it is expected to produce non-ferrous metals — including critical minerals designated by the US government — contributing to the stabilization of the US critical mineral supply chain and strengthening the country's manufacturing competitiveness. The project is set to create a total of 740 new jobs in Tennessee, with 420 of those in Montgomery County.

Meanwhile, Choi earlier attended the Korea-Canada Energy and Resource Supply Chain Cooperation Forum in Ottawa, Canada, last month as part of a joint public-private economic delegation, where he outlined the economic benefits Project Crucible would bring and said Korea Zinc would serve as "a key partner connecting critical mineral supply chain cooperation."