Korea Zinc dismissed the "possibility of leaking core technology" raised by Young Poong and MBK Partners (the Young Poong side), which are in a management control dispute over the U.S. Smelter construction project. It said Korea Zinc holds control over the company that will operate and manage the U.S. Smelter in the future. To that end, it asked our government to designate as national core technologies the concentration and recovery technologies for rare metals such as antimony, bismuth and indium that come from integrated zinc, lead and copper processes.
A Korea Zinc official on the 29th said, "The entity of the U.S. Smelter project currently underway, 'CrucibleMetals, LLC,' is a company established, operated and managed directly by Korea Zinc," and stated accordingly.
On the background of applying to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy for national core technologies, Korea Zinc said it was "a measure to safely manage our technology as a corporation holding national core technologies and to maintain Korea Zinc's unique competitive edge."
Earlier, Korea Zinc said on the 15th it would pursue a plan to invest a total of 10.95 trillion won with the U.S. government and local investors to build a smelter in Clarksville, Tennessee.
The technology Korea Zinc applied for this time is a production technology that circulates, concentrates and recovers byproducts generated in integrated zinc, lead and copper smelting processes instead of simply treating (disposing of) them. In this process, rare metals and critical minerals such as bismuth, indium, antimony and tellurium are produced.
This is the fourth time Korea Zinc has requested that its rare metal recovery technology be designated as a national core technology. In particular, in Nov. last year, it applied for the designation of "antimony metal production technology using diaphragm electrolysis" as a national core technology, but it did not make the final shortlist. Antimony is an essential material in various military and defense sectors, including ammunition, defense electronic equipment and protective alloys. The United States designates antimony as a strategic mineral in the Energy Act of 2020 and the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act.
On why the antimony production technology did not make the national core technology shortlist, Korea Zinc said, "Because opposing views from some who have attempted a hostile M&A were actively raised, the national core technology designation fell through." According to Korea Zinc, amid the management control dispute, Young Poong submitted an opposition opinion of about 100 pages to the national core technology screening committee in Feb. this year. The Young Poong side said it went on to request in-person explanations and briefings in addition to submitting materials.
A Korea Zinc official said, "The Young Poong side has blocked Korea Zinc's national core technology designation, yet when it comes to the U.S. Smelter construction project pursued on the basis of a strategic partnership with the U.S. government, it is making a contradictory claim by opposing it on the grounds of a 'risk of core technology leakage.'"
Citing the case of the smelter subsidiary established in Australia in 1996, Sun Metals Corporation (SMC), Korea Zinc emphasized it has fully safeguarded its proprietary technology.
A Korea Zinc official said, "We will continue the process of applying for and designating national core technologies to prevent the world-class smelting technologies accumulated for more than 50 years from leaking to outside parties such as third-party corporations," adding, "This is part of efforts to protect technologies that are directly tied to the national economy and security together with our government and to maintain them as Korea's unique technologies."
The official added, "We will do our utmost, together with the government, to protect national core technologies to respond to moves by third-party corporations to steal technology."