- Battery Age membership opens a channel to engage with U.S. government-sponsored critical minerals programs.
- Company is developing an end-to-end germanium platform from exploration through to potential downstream applications.
- Taking advantage of company’s strong germanium position.
Battery Age Minerals (ASX:BM8) has received a major tick of approval for its critical minerals strategy and has been accepted as a member of the U.S. Defense Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC).
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The US government–supported consortium is administered by Advanced Technology International (ATI) on behalf of the US Department of War (DoW), operating under the DoW’s Other Transaction Authority (OTA).
Created to help the US develop a critical minerals supply chain, it provides a flexible contracting mechanism designed to accelerate innovation and engagement with non-traditional defence suppliers, including emerging technology companies and resource developers.
The consortium was attracted by Battery Age Minerals’ leading global position in germanium, a metalloid element with unique semiconductor and infrared-optical properties that make it indispensable to a wide range of defence and advanced technology systems.
BM8 CEO, Sebastian Kneer, said that unlike many critical minerals that serve a narrow set of end-uses, germanium is embedded across multiple pillars of the US defence technology base.
“Germanium is not a commodity that can be easily substituted. It is the lens material for every military thermal-imaging system, the dopant in every optical fibre, and the performance enabler in the next generation of high-speed SiGe semiconductors,” he said.
“China’s decision to restrict exports has exposed a vulnerability that western governments are now moving urgently to address.”
The company’s flagship European asset is situated in the historic Bleiberg mining district in Austria, which historically operated for approximately 700 years producing zinc, lead, and germanium across more than 1,100 km of underground workings along an 18 km strike length.
The company also owns the Apex project, strategically positioned immediately adjacent to the historic Apex Mine, which was the leading US producer of germanium and gallium during the 1980’s and 1990’s.
“With Bleiberg’s significant historic zinc-lead-germanium production, and Apex, positioned alongside one of the only known high-grade germanium–gallium system in the United States, Battery Age holds a unique dual-continent platform,” Mr Kneer said.
“Joining the DIBC is a deliberate step in our strategy to position Battery Age within the U.S. defence supply chain at a time when germanium supply security has become a matter of national priority.
“DIBC membership now gives us a structured pathway to connect these assets with US defence requirements and pursue collaborative opportunities, non-dilutive funding, and long-term partnerships.”
Through its DIBCs membership, Battery Age is planning to continue advancing exploration at Bleiberg, remote sensing at Apex and germanium technology evaluation to support future commercialisation and potential offtake pathways.
BM8 is up +4.88% to 8.6¢. Mkt cap $18.15M.
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