Battery Age Minerals (ASX:BM8) has staked 129 lode mining claims, covering 2,660 acres, around the historical Apex Germanium–Gallium Mine in Utah, US.
The Apex Project – which sits in the Beaver Dam Mountains – contains historical grades of 0.7% (7,000 grams per tonne) germanium and 2% gallium (20,000g/t), with significant silver byproduct output.
CEO Nigel Broomham says the acquisition aligns Battery Age with western efforts to build domestic supply chains for semiconductor-critical metals.
“The Apex staking marks an important milestone as we expand our germanium-gallium portfolio into the US,” Broomham says.
“This ground captures the key geological structures that controlled mineralisation at the original Apex Mine and complements our Bleiberg Project in Austria.”
The company plans to undertake field mapping, sampling and drill targeting to confirm continuity of germanium- and gallium-bearing zones along the Apex Fault Zone.
Battery Age has also signed a consultancy agreement with the University of Sydney’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering to test advanced germanium recovery techniques.
The partnership gives the company access to emerging methods in extraction and recycling, with potential application across its wider project portfolio.
With the Apex and Bleiberg projects together establishing a western-aligned germanium platform, Battery Age says it will continue evaluating further opportunities in germanium enrichment and downstream technology.
The company’s next phase of exploration will focus on verifying historical grades and defining drill targets to advance the Utah project toward a resource estimate.
This content was created with AI assistance and human editing.
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Images: Battery Age Minerals
