Finance
Rio Tinto extracts first gallium under collaboration with Indium
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 7, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 7, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
Rio Tinto, in collaboration with Indium Corp, has extracted its first primary gallium, aiming to strengthen the North American supply chain amid China's export restrictions.
(Reuters) -Mining major Rio Tinto said on Wednesday it had extracted its first primary gallium as part of a collaboration with U.S.-based Indium Corp that aims to eventually produce commercial quantities of the critical, rare-earth metal.
The development comes amid restrictions from China on exports of metals such as gallium, germanium and antimony to the United States as part of Beijing's retaliation to Washington's trade war.
Rio Tinto said the first extraction was performed at Indium's R&D facility in New York, with the next phase looking to assess techniques that can enable production of higher quantities of gallium at a pilot-scale.
If the miner succeeds in taking production to commercial scale at its refinery in Quebec, Canada, Rio Tinto is predicting output of up to 40 tonnes annually, worth about 5%-10% of the current global production.
"Rio Tinto and Indium Corporation strive to strengthen the North American supply chain for gallium," Rio Tinto executive Jérôme Pécresse said in a statement.
China is the world's largest producer of antimony, germanium and gallium, which have niche but vital roles in clean energy, chipmaking and defence, but Beijing's target on U.S. supply chains is driving up prices of some metals.
(Reporting by DhanushVignesh Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Devika Syamnath)
The article discusses Rio Tinto's first gallium extraction in collaboration with Indium Corp, amid China's export restrictions.
Gallium is vital for clean energy, chipmaking, and defense industries, making its supply crucial amid geopolitical tensions.
China's restrictions on metals like gallium are driving up prices and affecting global supply chains, especially in the US.
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