The partnership marks the company’s latest push into critical minerals.
Korea Zinc has partnered with U.S.-based Alta Resource Technologies to establish a joint venture in the United States focused on recycling rare earth permanent magnets and producing purified rare earth oxides. According to Yonhap News Agency, the facility will process up to 100 tons of magnet material per year and will be built at an existing U.S. recycling site operated by PedalPoint, Korea Zinc’s wholly owned subsidiary. Operations are scheduled to begin in 2027.
The project marks Korea Zinc’s latest move into critical minerals and advanced materials supply chains. The company, the world’s largest producer of refined zinc, is positioning itself as a key supplier of strategically important materials for U.S. and allied industries amid growing concerns about global supply security.
Just a month ago, the company announced a major investment of approximately $7.4 billion to build a large-scale smelter in Tennessee, which is expected to begin operations in 2029 (we reported). In addition to zinc, the facility is designed to process lead and copper and to refine a range of critical minerals, including antimony, indium, bismuth, tellurium, gallium, and germanium. The rare earth recycling capabilities would complement this push.
Biochemistry in Search for Critical Minerals
The joint venture with Alta is set to employ biochemistry to extract the valuable critical minerals from end-of-life magnets. The startup uses engineered proteins that selectively bind to and separate metal ions. According to the company, this process can achieve higher purities than conventional recycling methods, especially with complex feedstocks such as magnets. Alta has gained support from major institutions, including the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and In-Q-Tel, the strategic investment arm of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
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