The government and industry partners of Australia, Japan and the United States, together with the Alcoa Corporation, have recently announced that they have reached a final investment decision for a gallium production plant to be co-located at Alcoa’s Wagerup alumina refinery in Western Australia.
This gallium plant will be constructed and operated by Alcoa, in a move that the company views as leveraging its longstanding experience in alumina refining and advanced mineral processing.
Gallium is used in high-performance electronics such as mobile phones, 5G networks, LEDs and lasers, solar panels and other sustainability technology, among other things.
“The facility will create a new, reliable source of gallium to support partner governments’ efforts to strengthen critical mineral supply chains,” an Alcoa spokesperson said.
“This final investment decision reflects a shared commitment by governments and industry to strengthen critical mineral supply chains among the partners,” said William F. Oplinger, President and Chief Executive Officer of Alcoa.
“The project underscores the strategic importance of Western Australia and the role Alcoa’s operations play in delivering critical materials essential to the global economy.”
Gallium is a critical mineral used in advanced technologies, including semiconductors and defense applications, and global supply is currently highly concentrated.
Alcoa describes this project as representing a collaborative effort to diversify supply and enhance resilience across key industries.
However, local environmental advocacy group, the Jarrahdale Forest Protectors (JFP), have raised concerns about Alcoa’s intent to expand operations to gallium processing.
“There is a very high risk that the State and Federal Governments will create the legislative power to allow Alcoa to continue to strip mine the Northern Jarrah Forest and increasingly the whole Darling Range area, decimating the world’s only Jarrah Forest and destroying one of the worlds biodiversity hotspots,” said a JFP spokesperson.
“In natural deposits, gallium typically occurs at concentrations of 30-80 parts per million within bauxite, the primary ore for aluminium production. The Northern Jarrah Forest bauxite ore is the lowest grade ore that Alcoa mines anywhere in the world, so the percentage of gallium available would also be proportionately lower. The refining process to extract gallium from the bauxite ore is very energy intensive as well, and it requires multiple refining steps to remove impurities.
“Gallium could be extracted from any other bauxite mine in the world as it occurs naturally with the aluminium. However, the percentage of aluminium in the bauxite ore mined elsewhere is generally much higher. This factor also begs the question as to why mining of gallium from Western Australian low-grade ore is being elevated to the National Interest Exemption level on the basis of it being a national security interest.”
Construction activities on the plant are expected to commence following final site preparations.
Alcoa’s participation in the joint venture, including its role as construction and operating manager, is not expected to have a material impact on the company’s financial position or results of operations.
