According to a Bloomberg report, the U.S. Department of Defense is set to issue a first-time gallium recovery contract to either American or Canadian firms by the end of the year after China put restrictions on gallium and germanium exports. While the Pentagon has reserves of germanium, it does not have reserves of gallium, which it now plans to recover from 'waste streams'. Gallium is used in a variety of Pentagon applications. These include radars, telecoms, and power chips. It is crucial for the DoD to have this metal.
The Pentagon intends to leverage the Defense Production Act (DPA) to prioritize contract awards by the end of the year, with a focus on reclaiming gallium from other product waste streams, according to spokesperson Jeff Jurgensen. The DPA facilitates the funding of crucial domestic industry sectors for national security reasons. The Pentagon has indicated that the fastest way to make such materials readily available in the U.S. is through recovery, rather than mining, a method not previously funded under the DPA.
