In January, Chairman Choi attended the Davos Forum in Switzerland to discuss global issues with global leaders and executive officers from around the world. This marked his first attendance following Korea Zinc’s official membership in the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2023. Through interactions with key figures in both politics and business, Chairman Choi reinforced his position as a global business leader at the forefront of the global economic changes.

At this year’s forum, Chairman Choi focused on sustainable management and the evolving international landscape surrounding critical minerals. He also explored strategies to diversify the supply chain of key battery minerals, which have become overly dependent on specific countries.

As Korea Zinc continues to grow into a global company, we will closely monitor global economic trends and the actions of other countries in response to energy transitions. By doing so, we aim to strengthen our international exchanges and collaborations to ensure that the Troika Drive, such as battery materials, renewable energy, and resource recycling lays the groundwork for leading the global market.

On the 19th, the Korea Zinc Sustainability Management Committee held its first meeting in 2024. The committee reviewed the internal ESG activities from 2023 and discussed major plans for the Sustainability Management Committee for 2024.

The meeting focused on key agendas including ▲ 2050 carbon neutrality ▲ ESG management enhancement ▲ Improved ESG rating for 2024 ▲ Social contribution activities ▲ and advancing sustainable environmental and safety management strategies. Notably, the plan is to designate 2024 as the inaugural year for ESG enhancement. To achieve this, we will first implement specific actions for 2050 carbon neutrality. In 2023, Korea Zinc calculated the product-specific carbon footprints for zinc, silver, and copper based on their life cycles, and in 2024, plans to extend this assessment to lead, gold, and semiconductor sulfuric acid.

Additionally, we will enhance supply chain management, human rights management systems, and governance for responsible mineral reporting. By analyzing and researching the results of responses to domestic and international ESG rating agencies in 2023, we will establish the 2024 evaluation plan and strategically respond to elevate its status as a global-level ESG company.

Korea Zinc and LG Chem have signed a MOU related to the ‘project to establish a closed-loop resource circulation system through recycling of waste plastics in the U.S.’ to jointly tackle environmental issues related to waste resources and accelerate ESG management.

This collaboration aims to utilize both companies’ recycling networks in the U.S., share market and policy trends, and proceed with initiatives to recycle waste plastics to build a closed-loop resource circulation system.

To proactively address the increasingly stringent regulations related to waste and recycling, we expect that the competitiveness of its resource circulation business, a cornerstone of the Troika Drive, will be further enhanced through strategic technological collaboration. This collaboration leverages Korea Zinc’s leading e-waste processing technology and LG Chem’s advanced efforts in improving the quality of recycled plastic products.

Korea Zinc has decided to acquire a U.S. scrap metal raw material trading company ‘Kataman’ for USD 55 million (about KRW 74 billion) to expand our recycling business, which we are focusing on as the next-generation growth area. We plan to purchase 100% of Kataman’s shares through its U.S. subsidiary, Pedalpoint Holdings.

Kataman trades approximately 300,000 tonnes of copper and aluminum scrap annually, with an average trading volume of USD 1.5 billion over the past three years.

Korea Zinc is set to complete the expansion of copper production facilities at the Onsan Refinery in the first half of 2025, which requires an additional supply and demand of 130,000 tons of scrap raw materials per year.

Korea Zinc has finalized funding arrangements to acquire a 30% stake in the MacIntyre wind farm, operated by Ark Energy MacIntyre Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of overseas affiliate Ark Energy. This investment holds significant meaning amid the accelerating global decarbonization movement!

The MacIntyre wind farm is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere and is scheduled for full-scale commercial production from next summer onwards. It boasts several advantages that enhance operational efficiency compared to other large-scale wind farms. Specifically, it benefits from ▲Proximity to high electricity demand regions, ▲Robust transmission infrastructure ▲ Competitiveness and economic viability of power generation wind speed.

In particular, the MacIntyre wind farm is located approximately 170 km from Brisbane, a major electricity consumption hub. It benefits from access to the Queensland-NSW Interconnector (QNI), which connects Queensland and New South Wales. This allows for easy supply of electricity to nearby regions.

Furthermore, the MacIntyre wind farm plans to supply a portion of its generated power to Sun Metals. Based on this arrangement, Sun Metals aims to achieve RE100 by 2040, leveraging the power supply from the MacIntyre wind farm.

Korea Zinc has launched the second term of the Safety Innovation Committee in June.

With this second term launch ceremony, we promised to improve the management system by prioritizing safety-centered management. At the same time, we pledged to continue our role as a policy-making body by carrying out activities in conjunction with the safety movement policy with the slogan “Begin Again: Safety.” In particular, a notable feature of the second term is the appointment of external experts in key specialized fields such as Gi-seob Kwon, former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, has been appointed as the chairman, responsible for occupational safety and health policy.

Jun-yong Lee, the director of Korea Zinc’s Onsan refinery, emphasized, “Safety is our company’s foremost non-negotiable value, and we will establish and implement substantive and effective occupational health and safety management policies going forward.” The second term of the Safety Innovation Committee will support Korea Zinc’s safety and health advancement through various