The Responsible Battery Coalition (RBC) celebrated the announcement of a $7.4 billion critical minerals processing facility in Tennessee led by Korea Zinc with significant U.S. government participation, marking a major step forward in securing responsible and resilient supply chains for battery technologies and other strategic sectors. The project represents the largest single private-sector investment in Tennessee鈥檚 history.
“This investment marks a significant milestone in America鈥檚 long-term effort to build secure, responsible critical mineral supply chains to build the batteries we rely on for our national and energy security,鈥� said Major General William 鈥淏ill鈥� Crane (Ret.), Chair of the Responsible Battery Coalition鈥檚 Critical Minerals Leadership Roundtable. 鈥淲e commend the Trump Administration鈥檚 innovative approach to give the American people a durable, resilient supply chain of battery materials through joint ownership in this project. This is the type of bold, forward-looking collaboration that reduces U.S. dependency on adversarial sources.鈥�
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the company鈥檚 smelter will produce 540,000 tons per year of essential materials, including gallium, germanium, indium, antimony, copper, silver, gold, and zinc. These minerals are vital for manufacturing batteries used in grid storage, transportation and defense applications.