US DoE to fund domestic gallium production
The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management has announced the Technology for Recovery and Advanced Critical-material Extraction–Gallium (TRACE-Ga) initiative.
The aim is to help establish a secure and independent US domestic supply chain for gallium — a critical material in compound semiconductors used in defence, power applications, communications, and more.
This initiative will support innovative and economically viable technologies for recovering gallium from US metal processing feedstocks, to strengthen America’s critical minerals supply chain.
The TRACE-Ga will be managed by ENERGYWERX in partnership with DOE with the aim to "broaden DOE’s engagement with innovative organisations and non-traditional partners, facilitating the rapid development, scaling, and deployment of energy solutions", according to the press announcement.
Prospective projects will test and validate prototype technologies with a goal of producing at least 50 kg of pure gallium from at least one 14-day campaign of continuous operation with a real-world metal industry processing stream. The objective is to validate a prototype that is capable of producing at least 1 metric ton per annum scale of gallium.
