DOE's Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation Selects Five Organizations to Restart Domestic Primary Gallium Recovery

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation (CMEI) today announced approximately $5.4 million for five projects to help establish a secure, domestic supply chain for gallium (Ga)—a critical material for the defense and semiconductor sectors.

“These five projects support President Trump’s commitment to strengthen America’s critical minerals supply chains,” said Assistant Secretary of Energy (EERE) Audrey Robertson. “Using novel and innovative approaches to gallium extraction, these projects demonstrate the focus on restarting domestic primary gallium recovery for the first time in almost 40 years. Technological breakthroughs foster the commercialization of cutting-edge technologies, expand the nation’s critical minerals production capacity, and reduce our reliance on foreign sources.”

Funded through the Technology for Recovery and Advanced Critical-material Extraction – Gallium (TRACE-Ga) initiative, the project will complement other federal investments in the gallium supply chain, by rapidly prototyping novel technologies for gallium recovery from U.S. metal processing feedstocks. Currently, the U.S. is 100% net import reliant on gallium and has not domestically produced the critical mineral since 1987.

Projects are divided into two distinct phases where performers recover gallium at defined cost, purity, and quantity.

Project Summaries

• PHNX Materials Inc. (San Leandro, CA) will integrate a novel processing pathway to extract gallium from wastes not compatible with traditional flow sheets, producing supplementary cementitious materials, alumina, and ammonium sulfate in addition to gallium.
   
• Atlantic Alumina Company, LLC (Gramercy, LA) will use a novel process (counter-current ion exchange and electrochemistry) with commercially demonstrated and innovative resins to recover gallium at higher temperatures and under continuous operation.
   
• Found Energy Co (Charleston, MA) will use the company’s Direct Bayer Extraction (DBE) technology, a continuous electrochemical process that recovers gallium directly from dilute Bayer liquor without ion-exchange preconcentration of chemical modification of the underlying alumina production circuit.
   
• Kunin Technologies, Inc (Chattanooga, TN) will develop a pathway for producing 12 ton per annum gallium utilizing innovative processing methods to recover gallium from metal streams with highest gallium concentration.
   
• Indium Corporation (Clinton, NY) will develop a capability to recover gallium from recycling scrap from a combination of commercial and innovative processes.  

The TRACE-Ga initiative is managed by ENERGYWERX in partnership with DOE, a collaboration made possible through a Partnership Intermediary Agreement set up by the DOE's Office of Technology Commercialization. This agreement enables ENERGYWERX to broaden DOE’s engagement with innovative organizations and non-traditional partners, facilitating the rapid development, scaling, and deployment of energy solutions.

Selection for award negotiations is not a commitment by DOE to issue an award or provide funding. Before funding is issued, DOE and the applicant will undergo a negotiation process, and DOE may cancel negotiations and rescind the selection for any reason during that time. DOE award amounts are subject to change pending negotiations.