Korea Zinc to spend $6.6 billion for new Clarksville smelter

Korea Zinc and the Trump administration announced a record-setting project in Clarksville to spend $6.6 billion building a smelting factory to process critical minerals for key U.S. industries like aerospace, defense and chipmaking. 

The deal, which includes purchasing the former Nyrstar Zinc, will generate 420 jobs and house the company's U.S. headquarters. The company also plans to reopen a former mine near Gordonsville in Smith County.

Nyrstar is the only primarily zinc smelter in the U.S. Korea Zinc will construct a 7-million-square-foot n integrated smelter based on the model of its own state-of-the-art Korean smelter.  

Construction of the U.S. Smelter will begin in 2026, for planned commercial operations beginning in 2029. 

Planned products from the facility will include zinc, lead, and copper; precious metals including gold and silver; and key strategic minerals such as antimony, indium, bismuth, tellurium, cadmium, palladium, gallium, and germanium. 

State officials said it's the largest single private corporate investment made in state history, and two out of three of Tennessee's biggest deals are both in Clarksville.

According to the Clarksville Chamber of Commerce, the city's proximity to I-24, direct rail access and Cumberland River barge capability provided a decisive competitive advantage in landing their latest supersized economic deal.