Korea Resources Corp., which celebrates its 48th anniversary since establishment this year, is set to leapfrog into one of the world's top-20 resource development companies by 2020 after moving its headquarters to Wonju's Innovation City.
The company was founded in 1967 in order to supply essential resources except oil and gas to the national economy. Currently it is taking part in 34 resource development projects in 18 countries across the world while lending support to private-sector companies in their bid for overseas resource development.
Of late, the state-run enterprise achieved important milestones in its overseas business. The Ambatovy nickel mine in Madagascar in which the Korean consortium of which it is a part took a 27.5-percent stake began normal operations in March this year.
Normal operations mean its daily output has reached 90 percent of the mine's maximum output as set by original design. The Ambatovy mine plans to produce 60,000 tons of nickel a year. Nickel is widely used in stainless steel and aerospace applications, with Korea's nickel consumption ranked No. 4 in the world.
The Boleo copper mine located in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur will also begn commercial production within this year. Korea Resources Corp. holds a 74-percent stake in the Boleo project. This is the first project for the company to participate as a principal developer away from the conventional practice of partaking as a secondary or tertiary investor.
With the move to Wonju Innovation City as a momentum, Korea Resources Corp. is set to engage in cooperation with local communities actively. Since last year, the company has signed partnership deals with local universities including the Wonju Campus of Yonsei University, Sangji University, Gangneung-Wonju National University, and Halla University to run mentoring programs. The programs also offer internship opportunities to the college students.
Beginning in 2012, the company has selected resource engineering students attending universities in Gangwon Province and granted 10 million won of scholarship money to each of them. Koh Jung-Sik, Korea Resources Corp. president, said, "From now on we will try to give priority to job applicants from local universities. With the move to Wonju as a momentum, we will do our best to relieve the jobless problem within the community while trying to help the economy."
