Korea Zinc said on the 13th that it recently signed a "strategic partnership for rare earth production" with U.S. technology company Alta Resources Technologies.
Alta Resources Technologies is a corporations that uses advanced biochemical technology to separate rare earths and owns "precision mining" technology.
It is said to have a biochemical process platform that uses custom-designed proteins to selectively separate and refine low-concentration rare earth elements contained in complex mixtures. It recently closed a Series A funding round, proving its growth potential.
Korea Zinc said the partnership is a collaboration to recycle and refine waste permanent magnets into high-purity rare earth oxides to produce rare earths.
Based on the partnership, the two companies plan to establish a joint venture in the United States and build related facilities at the U.S. business sites operated by PedalPoint, Korea Zinc's U.S. subsidiary. The target for commercial operation is next year.
The joint venture will first secure an annual capacity to process and produce 100 tons (t) of high-purity rare earth oxides, then gradually expand production. Using waste permanent magnets as feedstock, it plans to focus on producing high-purity rare earth oxides such as neodymium oxide, praseodymium oxide, dysprosium oxide, and terbium oxide.
Korea Zinc has already formed a resource-circulation value chain by acquiring, through PedalPoint, its U.S. subsidiary, since 2022, the e-waste recycling corporations Igneo, the electronics recycling corporations evterra, the scrap metal trading corporations Catterman Metals, and the IT asset management corporations MDSi.
Korea Zinc projected that the resource-circulation business foundation built by PedalPoint will greatly help stably supply the raw materials needed to produce rare earth oxides. It also said the plan is expected to create synergy with the "Crucible Smelter" project that Korea Zinc and the U.S. government are building together in Tennessee.
Korea Zinc Chairman Choi Yoon-beom said, "Following our strategy to play a central role in the Korea-U.S. critical minerals supply chain by building a smelter in the United States, this collaboration will be an important milestone in the rare earth sector," adding, "We will faithfully serve as a reliable supply chain partner in the rare earth sector as well."
Nathan Rutledge, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Alta Resources Technologies, said, "The United States has discussed for years the need to establish rare earth supply chain security, and this partnership is meaningful in building it in practice," adding, "By working together, we can use resources that exist in the United States to produce the rare earth oxides needed for U.S. manufacturing."