Gov. Bill Lee did not just come home from Asia with jet lag. State officials say his nearly two-week recruiting swing helped reel in a record-setting Korea Zinc investment for Tennessee.
The trip, a tour with Deputy Gov. Stuart C. McWhorter, included meetings with almost 20 firms across three countries, according to documents later disclosed to reporters. That outreach lined up with a December announcement that Korea Zinc would build a multibillion-dollar smelter and U.S. headquarters in Clarksville while reopening mining activity in Smith County. Local leaders are already gaming out how the project could reshape supply chains and workforce training across Middle Tennessee.
As reported by the Nashville Business Journal, state travel records obtained by reporters map the delegation’s stops and highlight an early breakfast meeting that the outlet called a “key landmark” in the chain of events leading to the $6.6 billion project. The Business Journal’s review portrays the journey as an intensive round of face-to-face recruiting rather than a quick publicity tour, a level of targeted outreach that helps explain how Tennessee landed a high-profile strategic manufacturing commitment.
How Tennessee Is Selling The Win
The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development announced on Dec. 15 that Korea Zinc would invest more than $6.6 billion to build new production facilities in Clarksville and Gordonsville, creating roughly 420 jobs in Montgomery County and 320 in Smith County, according to a state news release. Per the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, officials credited Gov. Lee and Deputy Gov. McWhorter’s international recruitment for helping secure the deal.
The agency described the investment as the largest single private corporate investment in state history and emphasized coordination with federal partners on critical-minerals processing. State leaders have been quick to frame the project as a marquee example of Tennessee competing for and winning big-ticket industrial projects.
What Korea Zinc Is Proposing
Korea Zinc’s own announcement described a strategic partnership with U.S. federal agencies that would support roughly $6.6 billion in capital expenditures and about $7.4 billion in total investment when financing and working capital are included, according to the company’s release. The firm said site preparation would begin in 2026, with major construction to follow and phased commercial operations targeted for 2029 at a Clarksville facility designed to produce zinc, lead, copper and several strategic minerals.
Korea Zinc framed the project as both an economic and national-security initiative, noting federal support for equipment procurement and other financing measures. The company cast the Clarksville campus as a key link in future critical-minerals supply chains.
Montgomery County leaders hailed the announcement as transformational, with local officials pointing to supplier opportunities and construction work that could ripple through the regional economy. Coverage in ClarksvilleNow notes the company plans to leverage the existing Nyrstar site, a move local groups say could speed up hiring of experienced workers. Utilities and infrastructure partners, including the Tennessee Valley Authority, were named in state statements as essential collaborators for the large industrial campus.
Why The Breakfast Meeting Mattered
The timeline contained in the records and reported by the Nashville Business Journal suggests that one early, in-person breakfast helped move talks from exploratory to committed, a reminder that personal diplomacy can tip the scales on complex deals. That detail helps explain why the governor’s office leaned into a hands-on recruiting push instead of a standard trade-mission script.
Observers on both sides of the aisle say the coming months will test whether the project timeline and job promises keep pace with on-the-ground progress. For now, that morning meeting abroad is being treated as a defining moment in a very expensive courtship.
Next Steps To Watch
Next steps include Korea Zinc’s planned acquisition of Nyrstar’s U.S. operations and the company’s site-prep timeline, both of which must clear regulatory and financing hurdles before full construction begins, per a Nyrstar statement. Nyrstar’s release on the proposed sale outlines conditions that have to be satisfied ahead of closing, which the company indicated could occur in the first half of 2026.
If those pieces fall into place, Tennessee officials say construction could ramp up in 2027, with phased commercial production beginning in 2029.
