Korea's Korea Zinc Company is establishing a production system for the strategic mineral gallium, breaking the "Chinese monopoly".

Korea Zinc announced on the 19th that it will establish a domestic production system for the strategic mineral gallium. Korea Zinc plans to invest about 5.57 billion Korean won (approximately 280 million yuan) from this month to December 2027 to build a gallium production system at the Ulsan Wonsan Smelter. It is expected that after the trial operation and official production in the first half of 2028, it can produce approximately 15 tons of gallium per year.

Gallium is a main raw material for compound semiconductors used in manufacturing smartphones, electric vehicles, and 5G communication devices. China monopolizes about 99% of the global gallium production.

The International Energy Agency has designated 20 minerals as strategic minerals, which are crucial for high-end industries but have supply chains concentrated in specific countries and are difficult to obtain. Gallium is one of them.

Korea Zinc stated that it can also obtain over 16 tons of another strategic mineral - indium - annually from by-products of the gallium recovery process. Indium is also used in LCD displays, touch screens, and semiconductor substrates.

A representative of Korea Zinc said: "Indium is also a mineral where China accounts for about 70% of the global production. If excluding China, Korea Zinc is the world's largest producer of indium."

Korea Zinc has also started to formally build a production system for another strategic mineral, antimony and germanium. Antimony has already begun exporting to the United States in June this year, while the construction of a germanium production plant is underway, with the goal of starting production in the first half of 2028. The company also signed a memorandum of understanding with the world's largest defense company, Lockheed Martin of the United States, in late August regarding the supply and procurement cooperation of germanium.

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1846447290884106/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.