Seven-member working delegation from House Select Committee on China and Foreign Affairs Committee visits Onsan smelter

Delegation reviews Korea Zinc's eco-friendly smelting technology and production capacity

Members express support for Project Crucible

A US congressional working delegation visits Korea Zinc's Onsan smelter on June 18, posing for a photo with Korea Zinc officials including Kim Seung-hyun, head of the Onsan smelter (fifth from left), Kim Ki-jun, head of the sustainability management division (first from right), and Lee Min-woo, head of the policy support team (first from left). [Korea Zinc]
A US congressional working delegation visits Korea Zinc's Onsan smelter on June 18, posing for a photo with Korea Zinc officials including Kim Seung-hyun, head of the Onsan smelter (fifth from left), Kim Ki-jun, head of the sustainability management division (first from right), and Lee Min-woo, head of the policy support team (first from left). [Korea Zinc]

Korea Zinc announced Friday that a seven-member US congressional working delegation — comprising staff from the House Select Committee on China and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, along with military officials — visited its Onsan smelter on June 18.

Arranged at the request of the US Congress and facilitated by the US Embassy in Seoul, the visit allowed American policy officials to directly assess the eco-friendly smelting technology, production capacity, and critical minerals supply chain competitiveness of the Onsan smelter, the world's largest integrated non-ferrous metals smelting complex. The delegation plays a key role in legislative and policy reviews related to supply chains and economic security.

The delegation showed strong interest in the critical minerals production facilities. The United States, like many other countries, is focused on reducing its dependence on specific nations in critical minerals supply chains and restructuring those chains around itself and its allies.

During the visit, the delegation said Project Crucible — a joint initiative between Korea Zinc and the US government to build a smelter in the United States — was of strategic importance, and called for expanded bilateral cooperation in the supply chain sector.

Project Crucible involves a $7.4 billion investment to build an integrated smelter in Clarksville, Tennessee, capable of processing approximately 1.1 million tons of raw materials annually. Site preparation is set to begin this year, with completion targeted for 2029. Once operational, the facility is expected to produce 13 types of non-ferrous metals — including 11 critical minerals such as base metals zinc and lead, and rare metals germanium and gallium — as well as semiconductor-grade sulfuric acid.

The delegation called Project Crucible "an excellent example of what can be achieved through strategic partnership cooperation between the United States and Korea."

A Korea Zinc official said Project Crucible, as a symbol of Korea-US supply chain cooperation, "would not be possible without the technological competitiveness and operational expertise that Korea Zinc's Onsan smelter has accumulated over more than 50 years." The official added that the company would "continue to work closely with the US federal government, Congress, and the Tennessee state government to successfully advance Project Crucible and do its utmost to jointly address supply chain resilience challenges with the United States."

Meanwhile, Tennessee Lt. Gov. Stuart McWater also visited the Onsan smelter in late April, ahead of the congressional delegation.

McNally said Project Crucible "is expected to have a positive impact on the local economy, including job creation, and will serve as an important opportunity to strengthen the Korea-US partnership and enhance economic security through a more resilient critical minerals supply chain."


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