News: Suppliers
1 October 2025
US DOE’s TRACE-Ga to fund gallium recovery from US metal processing feedstocks
The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) has announced up to $6m in federal funding available for R&D projects to help establish a secure domestic supply chain for gallium.
The Technology for Recovery and Advanced Critical-material Extraction–Gallium (TRACE-Ga) initiative aims to drive innovative and cost-effective technologies for gallium recovery from US metal processing feedstocks, advancing the USA’s commitment to strengthen its critical mine rals supply chain. Developing domestic supply chains for gallium should help to strengthen the USA’s national security by fostering the commercialization of cutting-edge technologies, expanding the nation’s critical materials portfolio, and reducing the reliance on foreign sources.
The TRACE-Ga initiative is managed by ENERGYWERX through a Partnership Intermediary Agreement set up by the DOE’s Office of Technology Commercialization. The 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.
Projects will test and validate prototype technologies with a goal of producing at least 50kg of pure gallium from at least one 14-day campaign of continuous operation with a real-world metal industry processing stream, such as aluminium or zinc. The objective is to validate a prototype that is capable of producing at least 1 metric ton per annum scale of gallium. Successful projects will restart domestic primary gallium recovery for the first time in almost 40 years.
Applicants to the TRACE-Ga funding opportunity must qualify as a domestic entity. With a submission deadline of 20 November, eligible applicants will be asked to provide:
- evidence of success for recovering gallium from feedstock similar to the proposed metal industry process stream;
- a letter of support from any company, agency or other party that has ownership/rights to any proposed feedstock materials, where applicable; and
- a description of the potential for scale-up at the initial metal industry processing stream and market adoption beyond the initial metal industry processing stream source.
DOE expects to make between one and three awards with a minimum of 20% cost-sharing from the awardees. Awardees are expected to be notified in early 2026.
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