The new center provides the infrastructure necessary to transition experimental technologies into continuous, real-world systems. Engineers and scientists at the site will focus on recovering strategic metals—including indium, germanium, and antimony—directly from industrial byproducts. This approach bypasses the need for traditional foreign-controlled supply chains by leveraging materials already present within the U.S. manufacturing ecosystem.

Found Industries, which originated as an MIT spinout, is currently backed by the U.S. Department of Energy through the TRACE-Ga program. Their proprietary electrochemical process extracts gallium from dilute liquors without requiring extensive pre-concentration. Beyond the Cambridge facility, the company maintains a Boston presence to support its ongoing energy platform, which utilizes activated aluminum to generate hydrogen and heat. This expansion follows a recent memorandum of understanding with ARES Strategic Mining to pilot recovery technologies at the Lost Sheep Mine in Utah.