For a metal used in virtually every modern screen, semiconductor and high-end communications device, indium remains strangely invisible. It doesn’t attract the same headlines as lithium or copper, yet demand is accelerating as the world races toward faster networks, smarter chips and more advanced digital infrastructure.
Hidden in trace amounts within zinc and other base-metal ores, indium is one of the tech sector’s most important — and least understood — critical materials.
Indium is a versatile metal that lends itself to a plethora of technical applications, combining a low melting point with high thermal conductivity. When converted into indium oxide, it is the starting point for transparent conductive oxide materials such as indium tin oxide (ITO).
Indium is most commonly recovered from the zinc-sulphide ore mineral sphalerite. The indium content of zinc deposits from which it is recovered ranges from less than one part per million to 100ppm.
Although the geochemical properties of indium are such that it occurs in trace amounts in other base-metal sulphides – particularly chalcopyrite and stannite – indium recovery from most deposits of these minerals is generally not economic.
Put simply, nobody mines “for” indium. It is recovered only when the host ore — usually zinc — is processed at scale. This dependence on byproduct recovery keeps supply thin, volatile and vulnerable to disruptions in the broader zinc sector.
Price pressures rise, China’s grip tightens
The indium market is already reflecting that tightness. As of 2024, the price has jumped US$147.68/kg — a 53.37% surge — according to CFD trading data tracking the benchmark indium market.
In 2023, the annual average US warehouse price sat around US$240/kg, about 4% lower than the 2022 average. Argus Non-Ferrous Markets reports that US prices opened 2023 at US$223/kg, held steady through midyear, but climbed sharply to US$275/kg by the end of September as feedstock availability tightened.
The market remains notoriously thin – small shifts in supply availability or smelter output can produce outsized price swings, as recent trends demonstrate.
China remains the world’s leading producer and exporter of indium, controlling much of the refining capacity capable of extracting the metal from zinc concentrates. In the first eight months of 2023, China exported 381 tonnes of indium –down 9% from the same period a year earlier.
In global trade flows, the US ships relatively small volumes abroad, largely to South Korea (57%), Hong Kong (25%), and Singapore (11%).
As with many critical minerals, geographical concentration in China — and steadily tightening domestic materials management — continues to add uncertainty to long-term supply.
Tech demands getting louder
Indium’s problem is also its opportunity: there are few effective substitutes for the ultra-thin conductive coatings it enables.
The roll-out of 5G technologies is already accelerating demand for indium-based materials such as indium tin oxide (ITO), used in advanced displays, touchscreens, RF components and high-frequency electronics.
But the next wave could be even bigger.
The explosive rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to drive demand for new specialised chip materials. Higher-performance processors require components capable of handling faster switching speeds, higher heat loads and cleaner signal transmission — all areas where indium-containing compounds play critical roles.
With global investment in AI infrastructure surging, analysts warn that demand for indium may outpace available supply unless refining capacity expands.
Indium may not be a household name, but modern technology would look very different without it. Every price spike is a reminder of how thin the supply chain is — and how dependent the global tech industry is on a metal extracted in microscopic quantities from minerals mined for completely different purposes.
As 5G networks scale, AI hardware accelerates, and semiconductor complexity grows, indium’s importance is moving from the margins to the centre of critical mineral strategy.
For a metal few people have ever seen, indium’s influence is everywhere – on every screen, inside every device and increasingly at the heart of the digital world.
Orienting the world
One of the few players in the space is Iltani Resources (ASX:ILT). In late November 2025, the company was conducting a surface electromagnetic (EM) survey at its Orient Silver-Indium Project in North Queensland, targeting deeper anomalies generated by an airborne versatile time-domain EM survey.
This survey program enables the anomaly modelling to be completed with a greater level of accuracy. As a result, Iltani will be able to better target deeper drillholes.
A versatile time domain electromagnetic (VTEM) target drilling program at the Orient Silver-Indium Project demonstrated potential to materially increase the mineral resource.
Speaking to Mining.com.au on the sidelines of the Noosa Mining Investor Conference, Managing Director Donald Garner says the first hole (ORR128) in the 10-hole shallow VTEM program delivered multiple thick intersections of silver-lead-zinc-indium mineralisation.
“The system is much bigger as we expected. So the resource we’ve got already will likely substantially grow,” Garner tells this news service.
“Plus we’ve got the rest of the results in the VTEM drilling to come. So it’s a really good result for us and for our shareholders.”
Orient’s resource estimate contains 34.2 million tonnes @ 110.4g/t AgEq, consisting of Orient East with 12.6 million tonnes and Orient West with 21.6 million tonnes.
Vancouver-based Tinka Resources (TSX-V:TK) is focused on advancing its Ayawilca Project, which is at the Preliminary Economic Assessment stage.
The Zinc Zone resource stands at 28.3 million tonnes @ 5.82% zinc, 16.4g/t silver, 0.2% lead and 91g/t indium in the indicated category and 31.2 million tonnes @ 4.21% zinc, 14.5g/t silver, 0.2% lead and 45g/t indium in the inferred category.
Meanwhile, MTM Critical Metals (ASX:MTM) earlier this year secured a pre-permitted five-hectare industrial site in Texas, US for its Flash Joule Heating (FJH) metal recovery plant.
The location will serve as the base for future commercial operations, alongside research and development activities as part of a new Technology Campus.
The property is pre-permitted for industrial waste handling and processing, and includes existing infrastructure such as sealed access roads, onsite power, wastewater management, security fencing and office facilities.
MTM says the Texas facility will focus on recovering critical metals such as gallium, germanium, indium, and gold from industrial waste and electronic scrap.
The site also offers flexibility to support future processing modules, pilot programs, and downstream refining innovations as MTM expands its technology portfolio.
Its location within a permitted industrial corridor enables potential collaboration with nearby industrial operators, and MTM is evaluating opportunities to co-locate allied processing activities or shared infrastructure to further enhance capital efficiency.
Securing this site de-risks its accelerated timeline, which remains on track to commission the FJH demonstration plant by the end of 2025.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Ericsson, Iltani & Indium Corporation
