News: Suppliers
8 May 2025
Indium Corp extracts gallium from feed sourced at Rio Tinto’s Quebec aluminium operation
Reflecting its metallurgical expertise in refining and transforming critical materials, Indium Corp of Clinton, NY, USA (a supplier of refined gallium, germanium, indium and other specialty technology metals) has extracted gallium from feed sourced at the Vaudreuil alumina refinery in Saguenay, Quebec, Canada of global mining group Rio Tinto as the firms collaborate to build a more robust global supply chain for gallium.
Indium Corp designed and developed the gallium extraction process in the USA at its Rome, NY, research and development facility. A strategic North American supply should accelerate the development of the project towards commercialization of gallium-based technologies.
“This milestone is a major step forward in our joint efforts to create a new and robust supply of gallium,” says Indium Corp’s president & CEO Ross Berntson. “Through this collaboration, we have demonstrated the viability of gallium extraction and laid the groundwork for commercial production to benefit industries worldwide,” he adds.
Indium Corp will continue to develop the extraction process at its R&D facility to meet the planned commercial scalability needs for a 3.5-ton demonstration plant to be located in Saguenay, Quebec, and then eventually commercial-scale capacity of 40-tons annually, addressing an estimated 5–10% of global gallium supply.
With gallium playing an increasingly important role in advanced and clean technologies, the collaboration is expected to significantly enhance supply chain diversity and increase global availability.
Rio Tinto progresses development of gallium extraction process in Quebec
US Department of Energy releases 2023 Critical Materials Assessment
