China, the world’s largest germanium producer, imposed export restrictions in August 2023.
Gecamines, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s state-owned mining company, has announced the first shipment of germanium concentrate to Europe, Reuters reports. The concentrate is produced by Gecamines subsidiary STL in the southern town of Lubumbashi and shipped to Belgian materials technology company Umicore for further processing. STL recovers germanium and other critical minerals, such as cobalt, copper, and silver, from Big Hill, a tailing dump hosting an estimated 14 million tons of metal-containing slags accumulated from a century of mining activity in the DRC’s south. The agreement between Umicore and STL was signed in May (PDF) with plans to make the inaugural shipment in the fourth quarter. While the mining company aims to benefit from Umicore’s expertise, the Belgian company seeks to diversify its germanium supply sources. Umicore uses germanium to create materials for optical and electronic applications, including fiber optics, solar cells, and electronics.
In July, Gecamines said it aims to reach an annual germanium output at Big Hill of 30 tons. Although more recent data is difficult to obtain, the United States Geological Survey estimated global production in 2021 to be 140 tons (PDF), making STL’s target output a substantial amount.
In August 2023, China, the world’s largest producer of the technology metal, imposed export restrictions on germanium and gallium. In the aftermath, shipments abroad came to a standstill and have since developed differently. Gallium exports have since stabilized, while germanium shipments remain below figures prior to the restrictions.
To address possible future disruptions, Western nations have ramped up efforts in recent years to diversify supply chains and forge partnerships with other resource-rich nations. The United States, the then-head of the Minerals Security Partnership, praised the agreement between STL and Umicore following the signing, highlighting that the deal would increase the global supply of germanium. The MSP is a multilateral association comprising 14 nations and the European Union that seeks to connect industry nations with resource-rich countries.
Photo: iStock/Oleksii Liskonih