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The Department of Defense will hold a 40% stake in a joint venture with Korea Zinc to build a $7.4 billion mineral smelter in Tennessee, the Seoul-based company announced this week (CNBC).

What’s going on: “The critical minerals smelting and processing facility could produce 540,000 tons of materials in the U.S. per year, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.”

• Korea Zinc will sell shares worth $1.9 billion to a partnership controlled by the U.S. government and unnamed American investors, who will then control 10% of the metal company.
• A former Tennessee zinc mine will be restarted to “feed the new complex” (Reuters, subscription).
• As part of the deal, the U.S. will have “priority access to Korea Zinc’s global production.”

Why it’s important: The announcement arrives as the administration is working to forge critical mineral partnerships outside of China, which controls up to 90% of global critical minerals processing.

• Critical minerals are crucial to a wide array of sectors, including energy, technology and defense.
• In October, the administration signed a multibillion-dollar agreement with Australia to increase mutual investment in critical minerals and rare earths. 

The NAM says: “Increasing domestic production of critical minerals, coupled with enacting comprehensive permitting reform, will ensure that the U.S. remains the world’s energy leader,” said NAM Director of Energy and Resources Policy Michael Davin.

• “Manufacturers will continue working with the administration and Congress in 2026 to deliver on this priority.”