US backs firms for first gallium in 40 years

The U.S. Department of Energy is funding five companies to help establish a domestic supply chain for gallium, a critical material for the defence and semiconductor sectors that America hasn’t produced for nearly 40 years. 

The department said Tuesday its $5.4 million would complement other federal investments by rapidly prototyping new technologies for gallium recovery from U.S. metal processing feedstocks. The companies are PHNX Materials in California, Atlantic Alumina in Louisiana, Found Energy in Massachusetts, Found Energy in Tennessee, and Indium in New York state. 

“Using novel and innovative approaches to gallium extraction, these projects demonstrate the focus on restarting domestic primary gallium recovery,” Assistant Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson said in a release. “Technological breakthroughs foster the commercialization of cutting-edge technologies, expand the nation’s critical minerals production capacity, and reduce our reliance on foreign sources.” 

The U.S. hasn’t produced gallium since 1987 and relies entirely on imports, with China controlling 98% of global primary production. The Asian giant said in November it will pause a gallium export ban to the U.S. for a year. It had tightened its grip through export licensing in 2023, a full ban on exports to the U.S exports in December 2024, and restrictions on gallium processing technology in January 2025.  

Five firms

The five technology companies are to design and validate flowsheets to help restart domestic primary gallium production. None are publicly listed. Here are glimpses of their approaches:

PHNX Materials in San Leandro, Calif., a private startup, plans to integrate a novel processing pathway to extract gallium from waste streams not compatible with traditional flowsheets. It would also produce supplementary cementitious materials, alumina and ammonium sulphate alongside gallium.

Atlantic Alumina in Gramercy, La., a private refinery business owned by New Day Aluminum, will apply a process combining counter-current ion exchange and electrochemistry. It uses commercially demonstrated and novel resins to recover gallium at higher temperatures under continuous operation.

Found Energy, a private company with operations in Massachusetts and Tennessee, intends to use its Direct Bayer Extraction technology. It’s a continuous electrochemical process that recovers gallium directly from dilute Bayer liquor without ion-exchange preconcentration or modification of the alumina circuit.

Kunin Technologies in Chattanooga, Tenn., is a private firm targeting development of a process to produce about 12 tonnes a year of gallium by recovering it from metal streams with the highest concentrations.

Indium in Clinton, N.Y., a long-established private materials company, plans to develop the capability to recover gallium from recycling scrap using a combination of commercial and new processes.