Korea Zinc

We are already preparing to launch a new eco-friendly business through Sun Metals Corporation (SMC) in Australia. The non-ferrous metal smelting industry is a field that requires as much energy as five of the energy-intensive industries. SMC has played the same role as the model for the renewable energy business in the non-ferrous metal industry, and has preemptively executed the solar power generation business. Joining RE100 for the first time in the zinc industry, it has grown to become the world's most environmentally friendly and competitive zinc smelter.
We are implementing the wind power generation business that our Australian subsidiary Ark Energy has also considered, and are actively considering the development project of the recently acquired new renewable energy recycling company Apron, and are promoting the expansion of the renewable energy business. We are also accelerating the expansion of green hydrogen production, transportation and export businesses. Ark Energy's ongoing green hydrogen production and hydrogen truck utilization business model has already been tested for innovative excellence by the Australian Government and is fully supported by ministries and agencies. We will continue to lead the production of green hydrogen through the development of renewable energy-based hydrogen infrastructure and contribute to the creation of demand.

Steel Cycle Corporation produces and supplies zinc oxide (HZO), including valuable metals, as a raw material for Korea Zinc from wastes such as steelmaking dust generated by domestic steelmakers that are about 400,000 tons annually. And we established a resource circulation system that leads from steelmaking to smelting and from smelting to steelmaking by producing direct reduced iron (DRI), a raw material for the steel process, and supplying it to steelmakers as raw materials. In addition, we are contributing to environmental protection by reducing waste to be landfilled and reducing mining demand.
Furthermore, we are accelerating our resource recycling business by reviewing recycling businesses such as e-Waste. Due to the ever-increasing demand for IT products every year, e-waste, a waste of which is also continuously increasing, is a business that is expected to grow rapidly in the future, and the technology and know-how we have accumulated If we use it well, we can expect high growth and profits in the resource recycling market.

Last year, we established KZAM and entered the rechargeable battery material business. The rechargeable battery material business is a future growth industry that can best utilize the technologies and products that Korea Zinc has accumulated. Many experts predict that the electric vehicle market will grow rapidly. This is because the electric vehicle market is a good alternative to responding to climate change and realizing decarbonization.
We are also developing a battery recycling business. If the production of electric vehicles increases, waste batteries will also be generated in large quantities in the future, so recycling of waste batteries will emerge as a big business. Extracting valuable metals such as copper, nickel, cobalt, and lithium from waste batteries is also what we can do best. The core materials of batteries used in electric vehicles are copper, nickel, cobalt, lithium, aluminum, and manganese. If we utilize the technology and know-how of non-ferrous metal smelting that we have accumulated over the years, this is a field where we can stand out and produce more than any other company. Accordingly, we are in the process of manufacturing precursors, which are raw materials for cathode materials, starting with the electrodeposited copper foil business.
In this way, we not only contribute greatly to responding to climate change through the secondary battery material industry, but also produce 100% of the electrolytic copper, a raw material for electrodeposited copper foil, as a 2D material and conduct a waste battery recycling business to expand our business and create circular economic value. It will make a big contribution.