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Despite speculation that Korea Zinc’s JPMorgan-backed Crucible smelter in Clarksville, Tennessee would process Venezuelan material, Fastmarkets has learned this is not the case.
Instead, the project is focused on the US with an eye on critical minerals, underscoring the importance of critical mineral development and supply chain security, a Korea Zinc representative told Fastmarkets on Wednesday January 7.
“We prioritize sourcing feedstock domestically within the United States, including from existing Nyrstar mines such as MTN and ETN. In addition, by procuring feedstock from new mines across the broader North American region, including Mexico, we aim to enhance the efficiency and execution capability of the Clarksville refinery project (Project Crucible) in the United States,” the Korea Zinc representative said.
Fastmarkets learned that, based on conventional sourcing patterns, zinc concentrates are expected to be sourced from the US and Mexico, while lead concentrates are expected to come from Mexico, Peru and the US. For secondary materials, the company expects to source copper scrap from regions including the Americas and the EU, and to utilize by-products generated internally during the smelting process.
“We don’t express positions regarding assessments or outlooks on the roles that any specific country may play in the non-ferrous metals supply chain in the future. In general, non-ferrous metals supply chains are influenced by a wide range of factors, including the availability of mineral resources, refining infrastructure, national legal and regulatory frameworks, international norms and ESG trends,” the representative told Fastmarkets.
While Venezuelan material will not be part of the Crucible project, critical minerals will play a crucial role. The Crucible plant will produce critical minerals including indium, gallium, bismuth and germanium, which are significant as US needs for these materials are expected to grow.
“In particular, demand for gallium and germanium is expected to rise sharply due to increasing requirements from the US defense industry, with minimum annual demand projected to reach approximately 50 tonnes by 2030,” the Korea Zinc representative said. “Reflecting this trend, we plan to produce 54 tonnes of gallium and 44 tonnes of germanium annually from 2030 onward.”
The Crucible plant is expected to produce 13 types of non-ferrous metals, including 11 of the 60 critical minerals designated by the US government, as well as semiconductor-grade sulfuric acid.
“Through this, we aim to actively support the US government’s policy direction of diversifying critical mineral supply chains and reducing dependence on specific countries. We also expect our strategic importance and value within the US critical minerals supply chain to be further highlighted,” the spokesperson said.
The need for a strengthened critical mineral supply chain in the US has been a focus of the second Trump administration’s first year, and the production of these materials would support this objective.
“The redevelopment of the Clarksville facility is the latest in a series of policy moves under US President Donald Trump (and former President Joe Biden) to secure supplies of, and the ability to process, minerals deemed critical, be it for technological or defense applications,” Fastmarkets analyst James Moore said on Tuesday January 6.
Additional market analysts have also pointed to JPMorgan’s role in financing the Crucible project as a signal of how private capital is being mobilized to support the United States’ critical minerals strategy.
“The signal we read in this deal is that JPMorgan is committing long-term balance sheet support to the new US economic security doctrine,” Marta Rivera Muñoz and Eduardo Zamanillo, analysts and authors of the book “Mining is Dead. Long live geopolitical mining,” told Fastmarkets on January 6.
“By leading project finance and taking an equity stake in Korea Zinc’s multi-billion-dollar smelter in Tennessee, JPMorgan is treating minerals and midstream capacity as part of strategic infrastructure, not only as an industrial asset,” Muñoz and Zamanillo added.
They said the deal should be viewed over a longer timeframe and within a broader strategic perspective.
“In that sense, the transaction can be read primarily as a long-horizon response to the critical minerals strategy set out in the 2025 US National Security Strategy, rather than as a direct play on short-term developments in any single jurisdiction,” Muñoz and Zamanillo said.
According to the Korea Zinc representative, in 2026 the company plans to proceed with site preparation and enabling works, selecting engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors, and placing orders for major equipment.
Construction is scheduled to commence in 2027, with the completion of the refinery and commissioning targeted for 2029. Operations will be ramped up in phases, sequentially across the zinc, lead and copper circuits, Korea Zinc told Fastmarkets on January 7.
“More specifically, site preparation and foundational civil works will be carried out in the first quarter of this year, followed by the selection of an EPCM [EPC management] contractor and the placement of major equipment orders in the fourth quarter,” the Korea Zinc representative told Fastmarkets.
“Construction will begin in the first quarter of 2027, with the zinc circuit scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2029, the lead circuit in the third quarter and the copper circuit in the fourth quarter of 2029. The company expects to be able to operate all circuits at 100% utilization from 2030 onward,” they said.
Listed below are the potential production capacities of each product at the Crucible and the percentage of total annual US market demand — based on data from the US Geological Survey (USGS), the International Energy Agency (IEA) and other industry sources — that volume could cover:
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