Red Metals has announced a $70 million investment to construct its first copper refining and manufacturing facility in North Charleston, South Carolina, marking what appears to be the first new copper refining plant built in the United States in more than 50 years.
The information in this article was provided by Red Metals company announcements and the official announcement from the Governor of South Carolina’s office on June 3, 2026.
The 42,000-sq-ft plant, located at 4500 Leeds Ave., will produce high-conductivity copper rod through an integrated refining and manufacturing process. The facility converts domestic copper feedstocks directly into finished rod in a single continuous operation, eliminating the intermediate steps that characterize conventional copper refining. Operations are expected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2026, creating 45 jobs including engineers, operators, and production staff.
The announcement came June 3, 2026, alongside the company’s $10 million seed funding round, led by Gigascale Capital with participation from Future Ventures, MCJ, and JB Straubel, founder of Redwood Materials and co-founder of Tesla. Red Metals has also secured economic incentives from South Carolina and Charleston County to support development.
“This is a next-generation copper manufacturer building a new domestic supply chain for finished copper products,” said Jackson Switzer, Red Metals CEO and founder. The company’s technical team includes engineers from Redwood Materials, Boeing, Albemarle, and BASF, bringing expertise spanning metals, manufacturing, and refining.
The project represents a stark departure from existing U.S. copper recycling operations. Ames Copper Group, a joint venture between Prime Materials Recovery and Cunext operating in Shelby, North Carolina, is the nation’s only secondary copper smelter, transforming copper scrap into finished goods. Red Metals will refine primary copper feedstocks into high-conductivity rod used for wire, cable, and electrical applications, fundamentally different from scrap melting.
The regulatory and capital barriers for U.S. copper refining are enormous. Industry data indicates the last approved U.S. smelter project dates to 1971 and was never built. Only two operational smelters remain in the United States: Rio Tinto’s Kennecott facility in Utah and Freeport-McMoRan’s Miami operation in Arizona.
Red Metals’ novel copper refining process appears to be the key differentiator making this business model viable. The company’s technology eliminates intermediate steps, requiring fewer process stages and a fraction of the energy and emissions of conventional refining. This efficiency is critical given the historically high energy costs and environmental compliance burdens in U.S. manufacturing.
The timing aligns with extraordinary market conditions. Copper prices have reached near all-time highs, driven by demand accelerating from artificial intelligence infrastructure, data centers, grid expansion, electrification, electric vehicles, and defense applications. The United States generates approximately 1.5 million metric tons of recoverable copper annually but exports most of it for refining abroad, creating a significant supply chain vulnerability.
The U.S. currently accounts for only approximately 3% of global refined copper production, with most capacity concentrated in Asia. This imbalance has become a national security concern, with copper designated as a U.S. Geological Survey Critical Mineral in November 2025.
Red Metals is positioning to serve wire, cable, and electrical manufacturers seeking to shorten lead times and reduce supply chain complexity. The high-conductivity copper rod produced at the North Charleston facility serves as the starting material for wire and magnet wire manufacturing, critical inputs for the electrification economy.
The announcement came just six days ago, which explains minimal trade publication coverage so far. Current media includes the Governor of South Carolina’s office announcement, a Business Wire press release, Jackson Switzer’s LinkedIn post (which generated 115 comments and 211 reactions), and one local Facebook news post, but no major wire and cable industry publications have covered it yet.
Florence Copper, another emerging copper producer, completed construction of its commercial production facility in Fall 2025 and produced its first copper cathode from commercial operations. However, Florence Copper focuses on cathode production from mining operations, whereas Red Metals is building a refining and manufacturing facility for rod production—a different end product.
The Q4 2026 operational timeline means the industry will have a new domestic supplier within six months. Wire Journal readers should monitor Red Metals for customer announcements and production milestones as the facility approaches commercial operation. For more information, visit www.redmetals.com.
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