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    US DOE gallium TRACE-Ga awards: process flowsheet insights for engineers

    April 16, 2026|

    Reviewed by Joe Ashwell

    US DOE gallium TRACE-Ga awards: process flowsheet insights for engineers

    First reported on MINING.com

    30 Second Briefing

    The US Department of Energy’s TRACE-Ga initiative is awarding about $5.4 million to five firms to design and validate flowsheets to restart primary gallium production, after nearly 40 years of zero domestic output and 100% import reliance under China’s 98% global supply dominance. PHNX Materials will target non-traditional waste streams to co-produce gallium, supplementary cementitious materials, alumina and ammonium sulphate, while Atlantic Alumina and Found Energy will apply counter-current ion exchange, electrochemistry and Direct Bayer Extraction to recover gallium from hot, dilute Bayer liquors. Kunin Technologies aims for a 12 tpa gallium pathway from high-Ga metal streams, and Indium Corporation will build recycling-based recovery from scrap, signalling new process options for alumina refineries and metallurgical residues.

    Technical Brief

    • TRACE-Ga projects are structured in two phases with defined cost, purity and quantity recovery targets.
    • PHNX Materials in San Leandro will process wastes incompatible with conventional alumina refinery flow sheets.
    • PHNX’s route co-produces supplementary cementitious material, alumina and ammonium sulphate alongside gallium recovery.
    • Atlantic Alumina in Gramercy will run counter-current ion exchange at elevated temperatures in continuous mode.
    • Found Energy’s Direct Bayer Extraction recovers gallium directly from hot, dilute Bayer liquor electrochemically.
    • Found Energy’s approach avoids ion-exchange preconcentration or modification of the host alumina circuit.
    • Kunin Technologies in Chattanooga is targeting 12 tpa gallium from high-gallium metal process streams.
    • Indium Corporation in Clinton will integrate commercial and novel processes to recover gallium from recycling scrap.

    Our Take

    The TRACE-Ga gallium work sits alongside the DOE’s broader critical minerals push, such as the $500 million CMEI funding call and the METALLIC rare earths consortium, signalling that gallium is being elevated to the same strategic tier as battery metals and magnet rare earths in US industrial policy.

    With China controlling 98% of primary gallium output and planning a full ban on US exports by December 2024, even Kunin Technologies’ targeted 12 t/y capacity would mainly serve as a strategic hedge rather than full import substitution, implying further US projects or allied-sourcing deals will likely be needed.

    Our database shows only a handful of gallium-tagged Materials stories compared with much heavier coverage of lithium and rare earths, so this DOE-backed TRACE-Ga initiative marks one of the first concrete US project clusters aimed at rebuilding a domestic gallium value chain after nearly 40 years without primary recovery.

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    Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.

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