of the world’s production of gallium, a soft, silvery metal used to make semiconductors, LED screens, and solar panels — and a key ingredient in next-generation weapons. Last July, after the United States restricted sales of advanced microchips to the People’s Republic, Beijing responded byof gallium are needed for most industrial uses.
A 2-inch diameter gallium oxide wafer is pictured at the Hangzhou International Science and Innovation Center of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, May 30, 2022.From helicopters and by foot, the company’s prospectors analyzed 800 of the 6,700 acres the firm’s owners initially staked more than three decades ago. At first, the company was searching for thorium, a radioactive metal once sought after for atomic weapons.
“We are being very discriminating in terms of where we take money from,” he said. “We’re being offered money from various countries and parts of the world, and we’re not accepting because of national security concerns.”“This company intends to make itself the prime domestic supplier of gallium by virtue of the richness of the deposits, the economics of that deposit and the ability to process it environmentally,” Kaye said.
Beijing’s dominance over the minerals needed for batteries, wind turbines and solar panels is frequently cited as a reason to slow the transition away from fossil fuels, lest the U.S. cede too much power over its energy systems to its rival. Squillace noted that neighboring Canada and other U.S. allies are pursuing operations to process rare earth minerals to combat China’s dominance.