Refining the metals that power America’s next decade.
9th Degree Metals is establishing the first dedicated U.S. facility to refine commodity-grade gallium to semiconductor purity. Allied-nation feedstock. Domestic customers. Zero Chinese content.
4N input refined to 6N (99.9999%) and 7N (99.99999%) purity using established zone refining and electrolytic purification, certified by HR-GDMS analysis.
Closing the domestic gap in semiconductor-grade gallium for the U.S. Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve, the Department of Defense, and American semiconductor manufacturers.
Established chemistry. Domestic execution.
Incoming 4N gallium is melted and treated with hydrochloric acid to remove surface oxides, then rinsed with 18 MΩ ultrapure water. Clean, uniform feedstock prepared for refinement.
Solid-state electrolytic refinement at 0–15 °C in a NaOH/NaCl electrolyte. Two cycles advance purity from 4N to 6N at a fraction of the capital intensity of legacy distillation.
Multi-pass RF-induction zone refining drives impurities to a single end of the ingot. Yield rates of 75–80%; cropped material recycled as feedstock. Purity verified by HR-GDMS.
From allied nations through American hands to American buyers.
- Japan — Dowa Holdings
- Slovakia — CMK
- Greece — Metlen
- Canada — zinc byproduct
- Domestic recyclers
- Acid/alkali wash
- Electrolytic refinement
- Zone refining
- HR-GDMS certification
- N₂-sealed packaging
- Project Vault reserve
- Department of Defense
- Defense prime contractors
- GaAs / GaN fabs
- Domestic LED & PV makers
Three channels. One mission: domestic supply security.
The U.S. Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve — administered through Hartree Partners, Traxys North America, and Mercuria Energy Group. Buyer-of-last-resort offtake anchors the production ramp.
Defense prime contractors and DOD programs requiring ITAR-registered, chain-of-custody-certified gallium for radar, electronic warfare, and high-power RF systems.
U.S. compound semiconductor manufacturers producing GaAs and GaN wafers for 5G, power electronics, photovoltaics, and the next generation of AI infrastructure.
A precision refiner, built for the moment.
9th Degree Metals takes its name from the engineering shorthand for nines of purity — the standard by which semiconductor-grade materials are measured.
The company was founded to address a singular fact: the United States has zero domestic capacity for producing semiconductor-grade gallium. Every kilogram consumed by U.S. defense and commercial manufacturers today is imported from a shrinking pool of non-Chinese sources.
Our model is deliberately simple. Proven chemistry. Allied-nation feedstock. American hands. American buyers.