US-based manufacturer of premium metal powders and alloy additions 6K Additive has been awarded a roughly $2 million Phase II contract, running 18 months, to recover and repurpose discarded metals from U.S. military depots. The targeted materials, nickel, titanium, tungsten, and niobium, share a common thread: each is either partly or entirely sourced from abroad.  China accounts for the vast majority of global tungsten supply, niobium arrives almost exclusively from Brazil and Canada, and federal commerce officials have already identified titanium imports as a potential national security liability. Rather than opening new extraction operations, the program looks inward, converting scrap and spent components generated at existing military sites into high-grade powders for use in advanced manufacturing. 6K’s UniMelt microwave plasma process. Image via 6K Additive. From Yards to Certified Feedstock Aviation maintenance depots alone shed upwards of 60,000 pounds of mixed metal scrap every week.…