US gallium strategy depends on Jamaica bauxite supply

The USD 450 million partnership involves Atlantic Alumina Company and aims to maintain operations at the Gramercy alumina refinery in Louisiana while also building the country’s first large-scale gallium production circuit.

The United States currently has no domestic gallium production and only one operating alumina refinery, according to details released around a strategic partnership announced by the US Department of Defence in January 2026.

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The agreement includes USD 150 million in preferred equity from the Pentagon and more than USD 300 million from Concord Resources, a subsidiary of Pinnacle Asset Management.

The Gramercy refinery depends entirely on bauxite imported from Jamaica. The refinery, commissioned in 1957, currently supplies around 40 per cent of the remaining US alumina consumption.

Gallium is produced as a byproduct during alumina refining through the Bayer process. As US alumina refineries shut down over the past three decades because of cost pressures and competition from China, domestic gallium production capacity also disappeared.

China now produces around 98 to 99 per cent of the world’s low-purity gallium supply and introduced export controls on gallium in August 2023 before banning exports to the United States in December 2024.

Gallium prices reportedly rose to around USD 1,572 per kilogram by January 2026, more than triple earlier levels.

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The report stated that more than 11,000 US defence components depend on gallium arsenide and gallium nitride materials used in military and semiconductor applications.

The planned gallium circuit at the Gramercy refinery is expected to produce around 50 metric tonnes annually, which the company said could meet total US demand.

Jamaica remains central to the supply chain through the Discovery Bauxite Partners joint venture operating in St. Ann parish. 51 per cent of the venture is owned by Jamaica through Jamaica Bauxite Mining Limited, while Concord Resources holds the remaining stake.

The operation can export up to 5.2 million tonnes of bauxite annually. Jamaican bauxite is considered suitable for alumina refining because of its low silica content and alumina availability above 46 per cent.

The Gramercy refinery site also contains around 30 million tonnes of bauxite residue, reported to contain several strategic minerals and rare earth elements.

A separate USD 850 million project by Element USA, supported by a USD 29.9 million Department of Defence grant, plans to build a rare earth processing facility next to the refinery to recover minerals from the residue.

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The report said the US government has increased direct investments in critical mineral projects under the Defence Production Act since 2025, with total investments reaching around USD 2.3 billion.

Despite the new investment plans, the report noted that the US gallium and rare earth supply chain remains heavily dependent on one refinery in Louisiana and one major bauxite source in Jamaica.