Korea Zinc–Alta rare earth recycling JV

A planned U.S. joint venture between KRX-listed Korea Zinc and Colorado-based Alta Resource Technologies to turn end-of-life permanent magnets into Nd, Pr, Dy and Tb oxides with Alta's engineered-protein separation, at a site run by Korea Zinc's PedalPoint, about 100 t/yr initially, targeted for 2027.

Points to check

Facts from the sources on this page that a reader should weigh before relying on the company's own figures.

The JV's ownership split and investment amount have not been disclosed (Korea Herald; Korea Times, January 2026).
The plant site's state and city have not been named (Korea Herald, January 14, 2026).
Whether the 100 t/yr initial capacity measures magnet input or oxide output differs between sources (Korea Herald; Charged EVs).
As of August 31, 2026 the JV was described as one the partners aim to set up (Mining Weekly).
Alta's protein-based process had not been disclosed at a stated pilot scale; in May 2025 it planned to advance commercial pilots (Mining.com).

At a glance

Founded: 2026 — Joint venture plan announced January 13, 2026 by Korea Zinc and Alta Resource Technologies; PedalPoint Holdings is Korea Zinc's U.S. recycling holding company, funded from 2022 onward through acquisitions of Igneo, Kataman Metals, evTerra and MDSi.
Headquarters: Korea Zinc: Seoul, South Korea; PedalPoint Holdings: New York, New York, US; Alta Resource Technologies: Colorado, US
Ownership: Joint venture of Korea Zinc (KRX: 010130) and Alta Resource Technologies (private; investors DCVC, Voyager Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Orion Industrial Ventures). Ownership split not disclosed. PedalPoint is wholly owned by Korea Zinc.
Stage: Early stage. Partnership to form a U.S. magnet recycling JV announced January 2026, with about 100 t/yr initially and commercial operation targeted for 2027; no JV formation, investment decision or construction reported.
Listing: KRX (KOSPI): 010130
Listed through its parent or partner. Korea Zinc is listed; PedalPoint (wholly owned) and Alta Resource Technologies (private) are not. JV ownership split not disclosed.
Revenue: Not publicly disclosed. This company does not publish revenue and no named third party has published an estimate of it.

Capacity

Each date below links to the document the figure came from. A capacity figure with no source is not on this page.

What	Figure	Status	As of
JV plant at PedalPoint site, initial phase (described as waste permanent magnet input by Korea Herald and E-Today; as rare earth oxide output by Charged EVs)	About 100 t/yr	Announced	Jan 2026

Narrative

Korea Zinc, listed on the Korea Exchange, announced on January 13, 2026 a strategic partnership with Alta Resource Technologies, a Colorado-based developer of engineered proteins that selectively bind and separate rare earths, to form a joint venture in the United States that will recover rare earth oxides from end-of-life permanent magnets. The plant is to be built at an existing U.S. site operated by PedalPoint, Korea Zinc's U.S. resource recycling subsidiary, whose acquired businesses (including Igneo, evTerra, Kataman Metals and MDSi) are expected to supply feed; the site's state and city have not been named. The initial phase is about 100 t per year, which the Korea Herald and E-Today describe as waste magnet input and Charged EVs describes as oxide output. Products are to be neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium oxides, with commercial operation targeted for 2027 and staged expansion afterward. The ownership split, the investment amount and whether definitive joint venture agreements have been signed were not disclosed. In April 2026 Korea Zinc said it had secured technology to extract a rare earth mixture from waste magnets separated from scrapped motors. Alta had expanded its seed round to $10 million by May 2025, co-led by DCVC and Voyager Ventures with participation from In-Q-Tel and Orion Industrial Ventures, and co-developed its platform with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Pennsylvania State University. On August 31, 2026, announcing a separate joint study agreement with Mont Royal Resources, Alta described the Korea Zinc arrangement as a partnering agreement that aims to set up a U.S. recycling joint venture producing NdPr oxide from end-of-life magnets by 2027. The JV is separate from Korea Zinc's planned smelter in Clarksville, Tennessee (about $7.4 billion, 13 materials, zinc, lead and copper production targeted for the first quarter of 2029), with which the company expects synergies. Korea Zinc reported consolidated revenue of 12.45 trillion won for the first half of 2026; its results release did not mention rare earths.

Where public sources disagree

Capacity basis: the Korea Herald (January 14, 2026) and E-Today (January 13, 2026) describe the initial 100 t/yr as waste permanent magnets processed; Charged EVs (January 30, 2026) describes 100 t/yr of high-purity rare earth oxides; the Korea Times does not specify.
Tennessee smelter cost: the Korea Herald (January 14, 2026) body gives $8.3 billion; the Korea Times (January 13, 2026) and NewDaily (April 1, 2026) give about $7.4 billion.

Sources

Korea Zinc, Alta to form rare earth JV in US — The Korea Herald (2026-01-14)
Mont Royal inks joint study agreement with Alta (JV status) — Mining Weekly (2026-08-31)
Korea Zinc, US firm to build JV in US to secure rare earth materials — The Korea Times (2026-01-13)
Korea Zinc and Alta partner to produce rare earth oxides in the US — Charged EVs (2026-01-30)
고려아연, 美 알타 리소스 테크놀로지스와 희토류 생산 협력 — E-Today (2026-01-13)
Korea Zinc US smelter project and rare earth recycling technology — NewDaily (2026-04-01)
In-Q-Tel invests in Alta Resource Technologies — Mining.com (2025-05-05)
Korea Zinc overseas affiliates (PedalPoint) — Korea Zinc (2026-10-19)
Korea Zinc posts record Q2 profit — The Korea Herald (2026-08-05)

How this page is sourced

Everything here comes from public sources — company filings, annual reports, exchange announcements, government releases and trade press. Every figure is linked to the document it came from and carries the date that document was published, because a capacity number without a date is not a fact, it is a rumor with a decimal point.

What is deliberately absent: material nonpublic information. I have spent more than two decades in this industry and a good deal of what I know about these companies I learned under NDA. Those obligations do not expire and they do not bend for a website. Nothing I have been told in confidence appears here in any form, and nothing on this page — or missing from it — should be read as a signal about what I know privately. I hold NDAs absolutely. It is the reason clients tell me things.

Judgment is the other thing left out on purpose. This page reports what has been published and who published it. Whether a target is credible, whether a ramp will hold, whether a capacity figure survives contact with the plant behind it — that is the work I do for clients, and it does not belong in a free reference page.

Where public sources disagree, I say so rather than picking a winner. Where a figure has not been published, the field says so rather than carrying an estimate. An empty field is information too.

Public filings tell you what a company has said. Whether it holds up is a different question, and the one I get hired to answer.

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