Korea Zinc to Build $7.4 Billion US Rare Earths Plant
By Reuters | 14 Dec, 2025

The joint venture with US firms and the US government would produce antimony, germanium and gallium essential to telecommunications, chips and weaponry production.

Korea Zinc said on Monday that it plans to build a smelter to produce key metals and minerals in the United States in a project that would cost $7.4 billion.     

Korea Zinc said the U.S. government asked the company to build the facilities, to respond to the expansion of global supply chain risks and the increasing demand for non-ferrous metals and strategic minerals in the United States.

The smelter plans to produce major non-ferrous metals such as zinc, lead, and copper, precious metals such as gold and silver, and strategic minerals such as antimony, germanium, and gallium. It will begin commercial operations gradually following construction from 2027 to 2029, it said. 

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Heejin KimEditing by Ed Davies)