President Trump calls Korea Zinc plant in Tennessee a result of tariffs — Korea Herald

US President Donald Trump, during a rally in Clarksville, Tennessee, presented South Korean company Korea Zinc’s planned plant as an example of investment in the United States that, he said, had been attracted by his tariff policy. The Korea Herald reports.

Trump said that Korea Zinc would invest more than $6 billion and create 740 jobs in Montgomery and Smith counties. He also mentioned plans to build a facility that he described as the first new mineral-processing plant in the United States since 1979.

Project Crucible

Korea Zinc is developing Project Crucible in Tennessee together with the US government and other partners. The total cost of the integrated nonferrous metals plant is estimated at approximately $7.4 billion.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

The facility is planned to produce zinc, lead, copper and silver, as well as antimony, indium, bismuth, tellurium, palladium and gallium. In total, the plant is expected to produce 11 minerals classified by the US government as critical.

Critical mineral supplies

The project is being implemented amid Washington’s efforts to reduce dependence on China and other foreign suppliers of minerals needed for the production of semiconductors, batteries, defense products and energy.

In August, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, as the publication notes, mentioned Project Crucible during a State Department roundtable on critical mineral supply chains. The project was also featured in materials by the International Energy Agency and the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.