The Nobel Prize of the world's copper industry ‘Copper Man of the Year.’

The ‘Copper Man of the Year’ award is the most prestigious award in the industry given by Copper Club (http://copperclub.org), a leading exchange/research organization in the global copper industry. Located in New York, Copper Club annually selects a person who has contributed the most to the development of the global copper industry and awards the recipient at the Copper Club Annual Dinner.

Since its inception in 1962, great figures in smelting, mining, processing and trading around the world have been honored. Another name for ‘Copper Man of the Year’ is the ‘Ankh Award.’ Ankh is an ancient Egyptian word meaning ‘spirit of immortal life.’ Ankh sculptures are made of either gold or copper to reflect bright light, which is why the name of the award given to the very best in the industry was nicknamed the Ankh Award.

The person with the greatest contribution to the 200-trillion-won copper industry, the person who raised the reputation of Korea and Asia.

The ‘Copper Man of the Year’ refers to the person who makes the biggest contribution to the global copper industry. Copper is used in a wide range of high-tech industries, from building materials, such as pipes, to electric wires, optical communication lines, automobiles, electronics, and aerospace fields.

Recently, its area of application expanded to copper alloy fishing nets for aquaculture and medical materials, thanks to its antibacterial properties. The global copper-related market is worth 200 billion dollars a year and encompasses various fields from mining, smelting, and processing. Copper is often used as a major indicator of the world economy along with oil, gold, and iron.

Chairman Koo Ja-myung became the first Korean and the third Asian to receive this prestigious award in the 50-year history of Copper Man Award. With this, not only did he raise the reputation of LS MnM in the eyes of the world, but he also made it known what Korea and Asia are capable of. In addition, the award has spotlighted the reliability of the Korean non-ferrous metals on the global stage.

From a small smelter in Korea into a world-class non-ferrous metal smelter.

Since taking office in 2005, Chairman Koo has led the company through a series of innovative initiatives. LS MnM, with 2.2 trillion won in sales in 2004, grew into a top-of-the-industry non-ferrous metal company with annual sales exceeding 9 trillion won by 2012. In addition, Chairman Koo presented a vision to transform the company into an ‘innovative leader in the global metal industry’ by expanding the company's business from metal smelting to urban mining, in addition to continuing to discover new growth engines.

He was awarded for his endless efforts to expand demand for copper, contributing to the development of the global copper industry,

in addition to his endeavor to fuel the development of the global copper industry. Chairman Koo recognized that active interaction with global players was necessary if LS MnM were to grow into a highly influential company that would eventually lead the global metal industry. With this in mind, he began taking active part in the International Copper Association (ICA) as a director starting in 2006. In 2010, together with Asan Medical Center, ICA, and Poongsan, he led the ‘hospital clinical trial of antibacterial properties of copper’ in order to prevent the spread of super bacteria. Following that, he made various efforts to expand the demand for copper, such as leading the ‘introduction and installation of copper alloy fishing nets’ to reduce marine pollution and increase fishery productivity jointly with ICA, Daechang, and Inseong Fisheries.