Korea Zinc plants 'K-smelting' in US critical minerals supply chain after 106 straight profitable quarters

Korea Zinc, which started out producing zinc and lead, has spent 52 years of relentless technology development to evolve into a "multi-metal integrated smelting" company capable of producing and recovering not only gold, silver and copper but also gallium, germanium, indium and antimony. As the United States moves to reduce its dependence on Chinese critical minerals, Washington has taken notice of that technological depth — and Korea Zinc's half-century of accumulated expertise is reaching a new inflection point.

Korea Zinc has posted operating profits for 106 consecutive quarters, from the first quarter of 2000 through the second quarter of this year, according to industry sources. The company has not recorded a single quarterly loss in more than 26 years. In the second quarter of this year, it posted consolidated operating profit of 587 billion won ($415 million), up 126.8 percent from the same period a year earlier. Both sales and operating profit set all-time records on a first-half basis.

A broad metals portfolio underpins that long-running profitability. In the second quarter of this year, weakness in gold and silver prices was offset by strong zinc and rare-metal prices and expanded copper sales. Antimony and bismuth sales volumes rose, and indium sales climbed 51 percent from the previous quarter. Stronger sales at KZ Trading and a production recovery at Australia's SMC also supported earnings. The company's business structure absorbs shocks from any one metal's price swings through the prices, sales volumes and recovery rates of other products — a foundation that has sustained its financial resilience.

The roots of that earnings strength lie in 52 years of accumulated technology and raw-material competitiveness. Korea Zinc was founded in 1974 when Choi Ki-ho entered the smelting business in a domestic non-ferrous metals industry that was virtually undeveloped. His three sons — Honorary Chairmen Choi Chang-geol, Choi Chang-young and Choi Chang-geun — later took over management and each built a distinct pillar: business foundations, smelting technology and raw-material supply chain competitiveness, respectively.

Choi Chang-young, who studied metallurgical engineering, was particularly instrumental in developing and commercializing TSL technology for recovering additional valuable metals from smelting residues, raising both productivity and recovery rates. Choi Chang-geun traveled to mines and resource-development sites around the world to build a stable raw-material supply chain.

Through that process, Korea Zinc's business structure was transformed. Starting from zinc and lead, the company developed a "multi-metal integrated smelting" system that produces and recovers gold, silver, copper and a range of rare metals within a single process. The multi-metal structure now regarded as Korea Zinc's core competitive advantage was not built at any single moment — it is the product of half a century of technology and investment.

Under Chairman Choi Yun-beom, the company is extending the integrated smelting competitiveness built by previous generations into critical minerals. The recovery rate for valuable metals now reaches a maximum of 96.5 percent, while the critical mineral recovery rate has risen from the 60 percent range to the 80 percent range. The company plans to expand copper production capacity to 150,000 metric tons per year by 2028 and to begin full-scale production of gallium and germanium.

The so-called "strategic minerals premium" is also growing. Indium sales in the second quarter of this year rose 51 percent from the previous quarter, and the company is reviewing plans to produce indium compounds in-house and supply them directly to data center and fiber-optic communications customers. Germanium production is also being accelerated, with sales targeted for early 2027.

The next step Choi envisions is expanding Korea Zinc into a "global critical minerals platform company." Through the "Troika Drive" strategy unveiled in 2022, the company is developing three new businesses — renewable energy and green hydrogen, secondary battery materials, and recycling and resource circulation — to broaden its reach from a traditional smelter into a materials and resource supply chain company for future industries.

The most symbolic stage for Korea Zinc's 52 years of accumulated smelting technology is the United States. In partnership with the US government, the company is pursuing "Project Crucible" — the construction of an integrated non-ferrous metals smelter in Tennessee. Targeting a 2029 trial run, the facility is planned to produce 13 non-ferrous metals including 11 critical minerals, as well as sulfuric acid for semiconductor manufacturing. It is a large-scale project to transplant more than 50 years of smelting technology and operational experience from the Onsan smelter to American soil.

The United States has taken notice of Korea Zinc's capabilities. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick cited Korea Zinc's US investment project as a supply chain development case at a critical minerals meeting attended by President Donald Trump on Friday, Aug. 7 (local time). As Washington works to restructure supply chains for gallium, germanium, indium, antimony and other minerals heavily dominated by China — shifting them toward the US and its allies — Korea Zinc's integrated smelting capability to produce multiple metals simultaneously has emerged as a strategic asset.

In his address marking the company's 52nd founding anniversary on July 31, Choi presented the "crucible" — a heat-resistant vessel used to melt and refine metals — as a symbol linking Korea Zinc's past and future. "Project Crucible is not simply the construction of a smelter," he said. "It is the starting point for supporting the industrial and economic security of South Korea and its allies." He outlined his vision of building the Tennessee smelter into a hub supplying critical minerals to global advanced industries.

If the past 52 years were spent building "multi-metal" competitiveness from zinc and lead, the stage for the next 50 years is the global critical minerals supply chain. "Until the day Project Crucible is completed and the heart beating at Onsan also beats in Tennessee," Choi said, "our spirit will be further tempered and strengthened inside this blazing crucible."