The Purolite™ Resin Periodic Table

Gallium is a basic metal with an atomic number of 31. Gallium is a soft, silvery metal that becomes silvery white in its liquid state.

Applications
Gallium is a vital component in advanced electronics, particularly semiconductors and LEDs, making it essential to modern technologies and the energy transition. Its strategic importance has grown due to its use in defense applications and its limited natural availability, often extracted as a byproduct from other extraction processes. As global demand rises and supply chains face geopolitical pressures, gallium’s role as a critical mineral highlights the need for secure, sustainable sourcing.

Challenges
Gallium, a valuable metal, is challenging to recover.

Solutions
Resin technology is used to recover gallium from Bayer liquor.

Recovery from Bayer Liquor

The Bayer process is the most commonly used method to recover aluminium from bauxite ores. It involves the dissolution of aluminium under highly alkaline conditions. In typical operation, approximately 70% of the gallium in the ore also dissolves together with the aluminium, while the other 30% can be found in the red mud tails.

Purolite™ Puromet™ MTS9100, a special chelating resin with amidoxime functionality, has a strong affinity for gallium from Bayer liquor. Thanks to its excellent affinity for gallium over aluminium, no valuable aluminium is lost during the gallium removal process. The loaded resin is eluted with acid, and the resin can be used for multiple adsorption-desorption cycles.

For more information, visit Hydrometallurgy Products.