News: Suppliers
21 May 2026
Metallium awarded $1m Phase II SBIR contract for recovery of gallium and germanium from electronic waste
Metallium Ltd of Subiaco, Western Australia, says that its Houston-based US-based affiliate Flash Metals Texas Inc has been awarded a US$1m Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract with the US Department of War (DoW) through the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to continue to pursue the recovery of gallium and germanium from electronic waste streams.
The Phase II award follows completion of Phase I, which demonstrated the ability of Metallium and Flash Metals Texas’ proprietary Flash Joule Heating (FJH) electrothermal chlorination technology to recover gallium from semiconductor and electronic waste streams. All technical milestones were achieved or exceeded, and the program was delivered in about half the standard timeframe.
“The SBIR process is a highly competitive initiative, and it encourages Flash Metals, a US small business, to compete and demonstrate our team’s and technology’s capacities in this crowded landscape,” notes Steve Ragiel, Metallium’s and Flash Metals Texas’ president of US operations. “This new contract sets us apart and validates our approach and our commitment to supporting national security priorities.”
The Phase II program will expand this work to focus on the extraction of both gallium and germanium from electronic waste streams, with activities centred at the firm’s Gator Point Technology Campus in Texas. The program will advance the technology toward pilot-scale deployment, including optimization of operating conditions, improvement of recovery efficiency, and demonstration of repeatable, industrially relevant operation.
A 12-month project will culminate with process readiness that is appropriate beyond pilot demonstration, placing Flash Metals Texas to potentially work on a Phase III award, and on broader commercial deployment. This timeline also integrates into operationalization of the Gator Point Technology Campus in Chambers County, Texas, by Metallium and Flash Metals Texas.
Strategic importance
Both gallium and germanium are designated by the US government as critical materials essential for defence systems, semiconductors and advanced communications technologies. These materials underpin applications including radar systems, satellite electronics, missile guidance systems, advanced semiconductors, and 5G and optical fiber infrastructure.
Germanium supply is structurally constrained, with greater than 70% net import reliance in the USA and domestic consumption of about 30,000kg per year. Recent supply disruptions have further highlighted this vulnerability, with US imports of germanium metal declining by about 67% in 2025.
Gallium supply faces similar structural challenges, with the USA fully dependent on imports and global production highly concentrated. This has driven increased focus from the US Department of War and allied governments to establish domestic supply pathways for gallium, germanium, and related semiconductor materials. At the same time, electronic waste streams represent a growing and largely untapped domestic source of both critical and precious metals, including semiconductor-related elements such as gallium and germanium.
China’s tightening export controls on gallium and germanium have materially reshaped global pricing dynamics, particularly across Western markets where supply remains constrained. Since the introduction of export licensing requirements in 2023, Rotterdam benchmark prices have diverged sharply from China domestic pricing, reflecting growing strategic concerns around supply security, defence applications, AI infrastructure demand, and limited non-China refining capacity.
Metallium and Flash Metals Texas’ Flash Joule Heating technology provides a pathway to recover gallium and germanium from electronic waste streams alongside high-value metals including gold, silver, tin, palladium and copper. By extracting these materials from existing waste, the technology has the potential to diversify supply sources, improve overall feedstock economics, reduce reliance on concentrated primary production, and strengthen US defence and semiconductor supply chains.
Next steps
The Phase II program will support advancement toward pilot-scale deployment at the Texas Technology Campus and continued engagement with US government and industry partners for future development and deployment opportunities.
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