3D metal printing is what you need, or you need someone who has one!
Amazing technology. It lays down metal "powder" at the micron level and then it's basically "forged" with a laser a layer at a time. So basically, lay powder then laser, lay powder then laser, etc. repeated till the piece is finished. Reclaim the unused powder for reuse -- virtually no waste of materials.
I want one and I have no need for one! lol
Also I'd really rattle the cage of your pigment supplier to stress why you need smaller R&D sample packages. I can't imagine there isn't a way to go about this. Go up the chain to get to the right person. Why would any company throttle potential future bulk sales?