The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Critical Minerals Alliances - August 7, 2025
In addition to making touch screens touchable, indium is emerging as a key ingredient in next-generation telecommunication networks and quantum computing.
An indium-based semiconductor is key to the creation of topological qubits with unprecedented stability for Microsoft's Majorana-1 quantum processor.
Embedded deep in the circuitry of modern life, indium is the invisible ingredient behind today's most visible technologies. Whether swiping a smartphone or transmitting quantum data, this little-known metal plays a central role in the digital, defense, and clean tech revolutions.
A thin layer of indium-tin-oxide (ITO) is what makes screens responsive to the human touch. This highly conductive and transparent coating transforms fingertip taps and swipes into digital signals that power smartphones, tablets, car dashboards, kitchen appliances, and countless other modern human-machine interfaces.
In addition to the billions of touchscreens around the world, indium lends its exceptional conductivity, optical, and other electronic properties to faster and more reliable 5G networks, as well as specialized computer chips for AI, quantum computers, and robotics.
Despite this critical role, the global indium market is as imperceptible as the layer of ITO on your smartphone.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, only about 1,080 metric tons of indium, valued at $367 million, were produced globally during 2024.
Though required in only modest quantities compared to major metals like copper and zinc, indium is the touchstone of a global tech sector that produces trillions of dollars worth of smartphones, computers, household appliances, automotive electronics, and other technologies.
The bad news for America's tech sector is that more than 70% of the global indium supply is produced in China, a nation whose government is restricting the exports of this metal critical to high-tech, clean energy, and military technologies.
The good news is that the highly conductive touchscreen ingredient is often found in the same deposits as zinc and can be recovered as a byproduct of this much more common metal, which is currently mined and refined in North America.
While touchscreens still drive the largest demand for indium, the technology touchstone's role is expanding into advanced semiconductors, particularly indium-phosphide (InP) chips, used in 5G base stations and quantum computing.
As the need to move larger quantities of data faster and more reliably increases, so has the use of InP components to transmit that data through fiber-optic lines faster and with reduced signal loss.
"The ability to send data at very high frequencies with little interference or signal loss is crucial for deploying 5G networks and the expectation of future technologies like 6G," writes Wafer World Inc., a global producer of silicon wafers for high-tech applications. "For that reason, high-frequency devices for 5G base stations, such as frequency mixers, power amplifiers, and low-noise amplifiers, are being designed using InP-based semiconductor components."
InP is now poised to play an even more revolutionary role in quantum computing and communication technologies.
Earlier this year, Microsoft unveiled its Majorana-1 processor, a breakthrough made possible by engineering InP semiconductors to interact precisely with aluminum-based superconductors at the atomic scale. This effort produced a long-theorized quantum state known as Majorana zero modes.
Because they are protected from noise and disturbances, these Majorana topological qubits have unprecedented stability, reducing the need for extensive error correction and accelerating the path toward fault-tolerant quantum computing.
"It's one thing to discover a new state of matter," Chetan Nayak, a Microsoft technical fellow, said of the Majorana zero state. "It's another to take advantage of it to rethink quantum computing at scale."
Manufacturing InP-enabled quantum computer chips at scale would add to the increasing demand for indium – and the need to transmit the enormous volume of data that quantum computing would generate will further elevate the need for this semiconductor that enables faster and more reliable communication networks.
An indium-based semiconductor is key to the creation of topological qubits with unprecedented stability for Microsoft's Majorana-1 quantum processor.
Like nearly every other metal critical to future-leaning technologies, clean energy, and military hardware, China has a firm grip on the global supply of indium.
"China is the leading global producer of Indium, accounting for 70% of the world total," the USGS wrote in its annual report on global mineral markets.
Most of the rest of the indium needed for high-tech manufacturing is produced in South Korea (17%), Japan (6%), and Canada (3%).
As part of a broader strategy to limit high-tech manufacturing capacity outside of its borders, China announced in February that the government must authorize all exports of indium out of the country.
A more in-depth look into China’s critical minerals export restrictions strategy can be found in the Red Dragon guards critical minerals trove article on page 8 of Critical Minerals Alliances 2025.
This licensing requirement provides a mechanism for the government to control how much indium leaves the country and to whom it is being shipped.
By controlling supply, Beijing can pressure companies to build more manufacturing capacity within China – especially those dependent on stable indium inputs.
"The indium market is a fascinating blend of rising demand, constrained supply, and geopolitical intrigue," Strategic Metals Invest penned in an indium market outlook article. "As prices continue to surge, driven by economic growth and technological advancement, indium's role in the global market becomes ever more critical."
Indium is one among many critical minerals that are not often found in large enough quantities to be directly mined. Instead, it is typically produced as a byproduct.
In North America, the tech metal is being recovered as a byproductatTeck Resources' zinc refinery in Canada. While this refinery is a world-leading producer of the tech metal, the mining and refining company has indicated that it could step up production to help meet deficits resulting from Chinese export restrictions.
With the market for minor metals like indium being limited, refineries such as Teck's Trail Operation in southern British Columbia typically only recover just enough to meet demand. In many cases, recovering all of these byproducts would oversaturate the market, driving down prices and making the recovery uneconomic.
Teck has been expanding the production of greater than 99.995% pure indium bars at Trail to keep pace with the demands of indium-tin-oxide for touchscreens and other applications.
While Teck has not stated what the upper limits of its indium production are, the company has indicated that it could further increase output to meet demand.
This is welcome news for U.S. tech manufacturers needing a reliable supply of indium, especially since indium and other metals produced at Trail are covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA).
"Refined zinc, lead, and specialty metals such as germanium, indium, and sulfur products are sold into the U.S., but they are exempt from U.S. tariffs as they are compliant with the USMCA," Teck Resources CEO Jonathan Price said.
As the global indium supply chains shift under the weight of tariffs, counter-tariffs, and Chinese export restrictions, refineries such as Teck's Trail Operation are poised to play a vital role in diversifying revenue and securing a reliable supply of this touchstone of 21st-century technology.
With more than 17 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration, and technology metals.
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