On the complex board of global technology, power is not only measured in lines of code, but in the ability to master chemical elements that, until recently, went unnoticed. That’s where gallium comes in, a silvery, malleable metal that, as explained in the Wall Street Journalhas the almost magical property of liquefying with the simple heat of the palm of the hand. However, behind this physical curiosity lies the nervous system of modern defense: unlike silicon, gallium withstands extreme voltages and resists heat without blinking, which makes it the irreplaceable material for military radars, satellites and missile guidance systems.
For decades, the world depended on a single supplier. Today, in a twist worthy of the Cold War, the United States and its allies have decided that the era of complacency is over. The plan is as ambitious as it is unusual: extracting the technological treasure from industrial waste, from the so-called “red mud.”
The market as a weapon of war. The current crisis is not a supply chain accident, but a state strategy. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), China applied a textbook tactic for years: flooding the market with artificially low prices to suffocate any mining attempts in the West. Once he achieved the monopoly—controlling 99% of refined gallium by 2025—Peking began to turn off the tap.
In the report of Wall Street Journal remember that in 2023 China imposed export controls and, soon after, a complete ban on shipments to the United States. Although the ban was temporarily lifted, the damage had already been done: the price of gallium outside China tripled, reaching an all-time high of $1,572 per kilo last January, as reported by AlCircle. For the Pentagon, which in its official documents has recovered the historical term “War Department”, this is no longer a commercial issue, but of national survival.
The gallium triangle. To break this siege, Washington has stopped looking at conventional mines to focus on the refinery chimneys. The strategy is deployed in an industrial triangle that starts in Australia. There, at the Wagerup refinery, the giant Alcoa has teamed up with Japan and the US to filter gallium directly from bauxite processing. The objective, detailed by Wall Street Journalis to capture 10% of global demand without opening a single new mine.
The effort crosses the Pacific to the banks of the Mississippi, in Louisiana. The Gramercy plant has received a $150 million injection from the Pentagon to process its mountains of “red mud,” a waste product from aluminum production that is now worth its weight in gold. He Financial Times underlines the ambition of the project: This single plant aims to cover the entire US gallium demand. The triangle closes in Tennessee, where the South Korean Korea Zinc leads a multimillion-dollar investment to rescue the strategic metal from zinc refining waste.
A market armored against Beijing? Despite the rain of millions, the path is full of economic traps. Professor Ian Lange, from the Colorado School of Mines, warns in the Wall Street Journal that the gallium market is “dangerously small.” If the West ramps up production too quickly, prices could collapse, making new plants unprofitable before they even start.
To avoid this scenario, the White House has deployed a financial safety net. It is about the Project Vault, a strategic reserve of 12 billion dollarsdesigned to guarantee the purchase of these minerals and protect giants like General Motors or Google from volatility. This measure is aligned with the proposal of the CSIS to create an “anchor market”a mechanism where G7 allies establish mandatory purchasing quotas, shielding Western production from Chinese dumping.
The future is written atom by atom. It is no longer enough to design the best software; Now it is imperative to possess the stuff that makes it work. Between the “red mud” of Louisiana and the refineries of Australia, the West is trying to demonstrate that it can regain its technological sovereignty. As long as Beijing maintains its ability to sink prices at will, these projects will depend on vital support from the State. The great battle for gallium is, ultimately, a fight of resistance to see who sustains the supply of the chips that will move the world of tomorrow.
Image | AndrewDaGamer and freepik
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