Nimy Resources expects boost in gallium demand amid shifting priorities of Ukraine war

A WA critical minerals explorer is expecting shifting US and European military commitments to the war in Ukraine to boost demand for its high-grade gallium discovery north-west of Southern Cross.

Nimy Resources has been touting the potential of its Block 3 resource for Australian national security and US defence needs since uncovering it last October.

The company’s managing director Luke Hampson on Wednesday said gallium was used in many cutting-edge technologies, including top-level military applications.

China had recently stopped the export of gallium to the US, and the company believed Block 3 was the highest grade “non-aligned gallium project in the western world”.

Nimy said US President Donald Trump’s strategy to slash spending on Ukraine’s defence and force European governments to significantly increase their military spending would create strong demand for Australian gallium.

“US and European defence company stock prices have risen sharply amid growing calls for Europe to rebuild its military capability,” the company said.

“Estimates of the coming military spending boom extend into hundreds of billions of dollars.

“Europe will need to secure substantial supplies of critical metals in markets currently controlled by China.

“Australian gallium could be expected to be in strong demand as European military expenditure grows.”

Nimy on Wednesday said Kalgoorlie-Boulder drilling contractor Raglan Drilling had been engaged to help define a maiden resource at Block 3 “as soon as possible”.

The company said the resource would in turn help it advance the collaboration agreement signed last month with US defence and technology solutions company M2i Global to support a US Department of Defense gallium procurement contract.

Mr Hampson said mineralisation had already been outlined across a substantial area of Block 3.

“We have tested only a small portion of the highly prospective strike length, which gives us every reason to believe we stand to grow the size of the discovery,” he said.

“Given that China supplies virtually all the world’s gallium and recently imposed restrictions on it, there is a huge opportunity for Nimy to play a role as a provider to the western world.”

Wednesday’s announcement followed the news on Tuesday that Nimy had signed a memorandum of understanding with Curtin University to help advance research and development into gallium.

Nimy said the Curtin agreement reflected a “shared commitment to leveraging Nimy’s high-grade gallium discovery and Curtin’s world-class research expertise to support secure, allied-controlled supply chains, including for the Australian national security community and United States Department of Defense”.

It said the parties would co-operate to encourage joint research projects in the field of gallium; promote collaboration in gallium-related research and development; encourage and co-ordinate visits for academics, researchers, and other relevant specialists to explore potential areas for collaborative research and development projects; and encourage the exchange of staff and students working in the field of gallium.

Nimy said it and Curtin had a unique opportunity to work together to address the critical gap in the supply chain of gallium, with the global market projected to reach $US22 billion by 2034.

The company said its recent drilling results had identified Australia’s highest-grade gallium intervals, including 72m at 117 parts per million gallium oxide, and a peak value of one metre at 495ppm gallium oxide.

It said an exploration target had been defined at between 9.6 million tonnes and 14.3Mt at 39ppm to 78ppm gallium.

The company said collaboration with Curtin would enhance these efforts by developing efficient processing techniques and establishing a trusted supply chain for gallium.

It said the collaboration was expected to accelerate the development of commercial-scale gallium production and strengthen Australia’s role in the global critical minerals market.