ZincOx Resources receives draft lease for Korean zinc recycling site

ZincOx Resources’ (LON:ZOX) plans to develop an EAFD (electric arc furnace dust) zinc recycling facility in Korea has taken a significant step forward. The company told investors that the land selected for the Korea recycling plant (KRP) has now been purchased by the Korean authorities, with the sole intention of leasing it to ZincOx.

Furthermore, the Korean government has presented ZincOx with a draft lease agreement, providing for a 50 year free lease, which is extendable every 10 years thereafter. 

ZincOx expects the lease to be finalised before the end of August.

The site is situated on the Cheonbuk Industrial Complex (CIC), approximately 10km to the west of one of Korea's major steel producing centres, Pohang. In May, the 9.3 hectare KRP site was officially designated as a Foreign Investment Zone (FIZ) by Korea's Foreign Investment Committee. In June, ZincOx began talks to secure financing and engineering services for the KRP.
Designation of its site as an FIZ ensures that ZincOx's KRP will enjoy certain tax and other incentives available to foreign investors in Korea including a five year tax holiday.

Today, the company noted that an engineering costing study is now underway and negotiations with financing partners have started.

The planned KRP facility will be the company’s second EAFD facility after its most advanced project, the Ohio Recycling Project (ORP). Both sites will process EAFD, a by-product from steel recycling processes, to produce zinc. According to ZincOx, EAFD contains about four times more zinc than the average natural deposit. EAFD generally contains between 18% and 25% zinc.

In April, ZincOx re-started the ORP development, at a substantially lower cost than originally planned. the original project had a capital cost of US$180 million, and the current plan is estimated to be approximately US$105 million.

Additionally, the company told investors that its negotiations for re-financing the Jabali zinc mine and processing plant in Yemen, are continuing with a number of interested parties. “All options for Jabali, ranging from an outright sale to traditional project finance, are still under consideration”, ZincOx stated.

The Jabali zinc carbonate deposit lies in mountainous desert terrain about 110 km east of Sana’a, the capital of Yemen.  The deposit contains a mineable reserve of 8.7 million tonnes of ore at an average grade of 9.2 percent zinc. The deposit will be mined from an open pit at the rate of 800,000 tonnes per annum with a waste/ore ratio of 2:1. Jabal Salab has a 20-year exploitation agreement with the Ministry of Oil and Minerals.