Horsehead Corporation, the largest zinc producer in the United States, will hold ribbon cutting ceremonies for their newly constructed zinc recycling facility at the S.C. Advanced Technology Park, Snelling, on Wednesday, Aug. 25 at the site. 
 Horsehead President Jim Hensler, Gov. Mark Sanford and Congressman Joe Wilson are among the industry and state leaders scheduled to attend the invitation-only 11 a.m. ceremony.
The ribbon cutting ceremony will celebrate the opening of the $72 million manufacturing facility first announced in 2008, which is expected to have a fully installed capacity of 180,000 tons per year, and create up to 65 full-time jobs.
Horsehead plant manager Eric Stroom said he and his staff are looking forward to Wednesday’s ceremony. He said contractor Chris Pritchard of Query-Pritchard Construction and land developer J. R Wilson Construction “have done an excellent job” getting the site prepared.
Stroom said the first of two kilns was started up April 16 and the “second one is due to come up in September.”
“In the next three weeks we will have another 14 people hired,” said Stroom. “We have really focused on job creation. Ninety-five percent of the people hired have been previously unemployed. We are excited to make a difference.”
Also the leading manufacturer of value-added zinc products including zinc oxide and zinc powder, Horsehead Corporation is leading the industry as an integrated producer, as well as the world’s largest producer of zinc from recycled sources.  Horsehead Corporation was formed in 2003, but its predecessor companies, the New Jersey Zinc Company and St. Joe Resources Company, each having been in the zinc production business, date back to the mid-1800’s.
With operations strategically located throughout the country, their facilities are located in Barnwell; Bartlesville, Okla., Beaumont, Tex., Calumet, IL, Monaca, Penn., Palmerton, Penn. and Rockwood, Tenn.