Korea Zinc is expanding its business in a big way in the United States. Korea Zinc said on Monday it will build a $7.4 billion critical minerals refinery in Tennessee that will be funded largely by Washington and help cut U.S. reliance on China for the building blocks of most electronics and weapons.
“The Trump administration will continue to leverage every tool at our disposal to end America’s foreign dependence for critical minerals and restore working-class prosperity,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement to Reuters that confirmed the investment.
Under the plan, Korea Zinc will sell shares worth $1.9 billion to a joint venture controlled by the U.S. government and unnamed U.S.-based strategic investors, who would then control around 10% of the South Korean firm.
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The facility is expected to process a range of metals, including zinc, lead, copper, antimony, germanium, and gallium, which are considered essential for industries such as semiconductors, defense, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing. The project is seen as one of the largest foreign direct investments in the United States in recent years.
Beyond its economic impact, the project aims to strengthen U.S. production capabilities for materials critical to technology and defense.
Major Korea Zinc shareholders, who have been seeking to oust the refiner’s chairman, lambasted the planned U.S. investment, saying it was aimed at cementing management’s hold on the company.
This deal announcement comes on the heels of the very public exclusion of India from the U.S.-led Pax Silica initiative.
Korea Zinc’s U.S. expansion underscores the growing intersection of corporate strategy and geopolitical priorities in critical minerals. Beyond its immediate economic and technological impact, the move reflects the intensifying global competition to secure the building blocks of modern industry, where control over supply chains has become a strategic asset.
This trend is mirrored in multilateral efforts such as the U.S.-led Pax Silica initiative, which seeks to consolidate reliable partners around key mineral resources. India’s exclusion from this framework may be highlighting the selective and strategic nature of such alliances, signaling that access to critical supply chains is increasingly shaped by geopolitical alignment rather than purely commercial considerations.
The project also illustrates the tension between domestic and international pressures on multinational firms. While Korea Zinc positions itself as a partner in U.S. industrial resilience, internal shareholder disputes indicate that corporate governance dynamics can complicate large-scale international investments, especially when strategic ambitions intersect with ownership control.
Collectively, these developments point to a broader recalibration in global supply chains, where governments and corporations alike are investing heavily to ensure technological and industrial sovereignty.