Korea Zinc created a new division for building a smelter in Clarksville, Tennessee, and carried out related executive appointments. With the paid-in capital increase for the U.S. business completed, the company appears to be accelerating the smelter construction.
According to Korea Zinc on the 16th, the company recently established the Crucible division under Chair Choi Yun-beom to build and operate the U.S. Smelter, and made a president-level appointment to lead the U.S. Smelter project.
Park Gi-won, executive vice president of the TD Technology Division, was appointed E&C project manager (president level) to directly oversee construction of the U.S. Smelter. Park is regarded as the figure who led the company's technology division while maximizing production efficiency as the head of the Onsan Smelter and Australia's Sun Metals Smelter.
As E&C project manager, Park will shuttle to and from the United States to oversee all tasks related to smelter construction and operation, including process design, technical completeness, and responses to environmental regulations.
Executive Vice President Lee Seung-ho, head of finance and chief financial officer (CFO), was appointed value creation (VC) project manager to drive the 11 trillion won investment planned for the U.S. Smelter and generate value.
Having worked at global investment banks and consulting firms, Lee has served as Korea Zinc's CFO since 2024. Lee will manage funding for the investment in stages and oversee securing U.S. government subsidies and policy financing.
Korea Zinc's latest organizational reshuffle and executive appointments came about three weeks after completing the paid-in capital increase for the U.S. business. Korea Zinc said the capital increase has been completed and the U.S. business is officially underway, so the company is picking up the pace.
Korea Zinc's paid-in capital increase was approved by the board on the 15th of last month and registered on the 29th of the same month. The capital raise is intended to transfer 10.59% equity in Korea Zinc to the joint venture Crucible JV, which is being established with the U.S. government.
Through the paid-in capital increase, Korea Zinc will secure 2.8336 trillion won to be invested in building the smelter, and plans to raise $7.432 billion through borrowings from the U.S. Department of War and the U.S. Department of Commerce, which are participating in the JV.
Korea Zinc plans to prepare the site and conduct basic civil engineering work in the first half of this year, break ground early next year, complete the smelter in 2029, and begin full operation in 2030 to produce 540,000 tons (t) of nonferrous metals annually.
Previously, MBK Partners and Young Poong, which are in a management control dispute with Korea Zinc, filed for an injunction to block the new share issuance, claiming issues with the purpose of the paid-in capital increase. The court dismissed the request on the 24th of last month, and the capital increase was completed.