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Reference specimen · Jurii, CC BY 3.0
Tech & industrial metals
Top-10 #7Sample dataGermanium is a minor metal used in fibre optics, infrared optics (night vision, thermal imaging for defence), satellite solar cells and semiconductors. China dominates supply and has restricted exports since August 2023, tightening further in 2024. The DRC's Big Hill tailings in Lubumbashi, historic slag and tailings from Gécamines' zinc-copper operations, are now one of the very few new non-Chinese sources: STL processes them and Umicore refines the concentrate in Belgium.
Verified companies only
Volumes, origins and terms are shown to verified companies. Availability for everyone else: Contract (limited) + Pipeline. Verify your company or submit a request.
Germanium concentrate
Unit: kg · HS 2825.60
output of the STL hydrometallurgical plant at Big Hill, shipped to Umicore (Olen, Belgium)
Germanium dioxide (GeO2)
Unit: kg · HS 8112.92
99.999% (5N), feedstock for fibre-optic preforms (as GeCl4) and catalysts
Germanium metal
Unit: kg · HS 8112.99
zone-refined, 99.999% to 99.9999% (6N) for IR optics and detectors; ingots and blanks
Germanium tetrachloride (GeCl4)
Unit: kg
fibre-optic grade
ARAM sourcing assessment
Strategic niche with very high buyer interest, but volumes are captive (STL → Umicore). Value lies in introductions, future on-site GeO2 output, Kipushi by-product streams and Namibian/Zambian tailings. Listing status: Contract (limited) + Pipeline.
DR Congo
Big Hill tailings, Lubumbashi — STL (Gécamines) plant commissioned Oct 2023, first exports Oct 2024, exclusive partnership with Umicore (May 2024); stated potential up to ~30% of world germanium demand; STL studying an on-site GeO2 plant
Source: UN Comtrade (public data). Values in US$.
Minerals trade on formula prices: a published benchmark × metal content × payable percentage, less treatment charges and impurity penalties, settled on independent assay. Payment is typically by documentary letter of credit, with 90–95% provisional payment against shipping documents and the balance on final assay.
Request terms for GermaniumDR Congo
No special restriction
exports by STL/Gécamines under Umicore partnership; strategic-mineral oversight
Primary source
Cross-border
Export ban
China export licences (Aug 2023, tightened later, incl. Dec 2024 ban on US shipments) — the reason Western buyers want African supply
Primary sourceSource
Cross-border
No special restriction
Dual-use export controls may apply to high-purity Ge products in the EU and US
Primary source
Operator: STL (Gécamines) with Umicore
Germanium concentrate exported to Umicore since Oct 2024.
DRC: STL (Gécamines subsidiary) hydrometallurgical plant at the Big Hill tailings, Lubumbashi, commissioned Oct 2023; first germanium concentrate exported Oct 2024 to Umicore (Olen, Belgium) under an exclusive long-term partnership (May 2024); stated potential up to ~30% of world germanium demand; STL studying a GeO2 plant on site.
Source 1 · umicore.comSource 2 · umicore.comSource 3 · gecamines.comSource 4 · ecofinagency.comSource 5 · mining.com
China export licensing on gallium/germanium since Aug 2023, tightened later (incl. Dec 2024 ban on shipments to the US); creates a wide gap between Chinese domestic and Western warehouse prices. Traded forms: germanium metal and GeO2, typically 99.999% (5N), priced US$/kg (Fastmarkets, SMM).
Source 1 · fastmarkets.comSource 2 · fastmarkets.comSource 3 · usitc.gov
Research compiled September 2026 from USGS, UN Comtrade, producer and regulator publications. Facts marked “reported” come from secondary sources and should be confirmed before contracting.
On the ground · Germanium
The mines and districts that define supply, with their operators. They are shown for geographic context: third-party operations, not ARAM sites, and not the source of any particular lot. Ownership and status as publicly reported in 2026.
Tailings reprocessingDR Congo
Operated by STL (Gécamines), with Umicore
Decades of slag and tailings from Gécamines' Lubumbashi smelter, now reprocessed for germanium, copper and cobalt; the first germanium concentrate shipped in 2024.
Photo: User:Vberger · Public domain
Historic mineNamibia
Operated by Historic (Tsumeb Corporation); smelter now Dundee Precious Metals
One of the world's most famous mineral localities — source of germanite and many rare species; the mine closed, the smelter still operates.
Photo: Olga Ernst · CC BY-SA 4.0Jurii, CC BY 3.0
Leon Hupperichs, CC BY-SA 3.0
Kritzolina, CC BY-SA 4.0
Kritzolina, CC BY-SA 4.0
Robert M. Lavinsky, CC BY-SA 3.0
Reference specimens of the ore minerals and products, from public collections. They illustrate the material, not a specific ARAM lot or source.
#02Battery minerals
Copper is the backbone of electrification: power grids, EV motors and wiring, renewables and data centres. The DRC is now the world's #2 mine producer after Chile, and Zambia is Africa's #2; together they form the Central African Copperbelt, one of the world's highest-grade copper provinces. Africa exports copper at every stage, from concentrate to refined cathode.
#03Rare earths
The light rare earths neodymium (Nd) and praseodymium (Pr), traded together as 'NdPr', are the key ingredients of NdFeB permanent magnets used in EV motors, wind turbines, robotics, drones and defence systems. China controls about 60–70% of mining and around 90% of separation and magnet making, and has used export controls since 2023–25. Africa has a strong pipeline of carbonatite and monazite deposits, mostly in construction or development in 2026. Early African output will be concentrate or mixed carbonate, not separated oxide.
Tech & industrial metals
About 90% of vanadium is used to strengthen steel (ferrovanadium in rebar and high-strength low-alloy steel). The rest goes into titanium alloys for aerospace and into electrolyte for vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB), which store grid-scale energy. South Africa's Bushveld titanomagnetite is one of the four big sources, with China, Russia and Brazil. Several South African plants have closed or cut output, so supply is concentrated.
Tech & industrial metals
Chromite ore is smelted into ferrochrome, which makes stainless steel stainless. South Africa's Bushveld Complex holds more than 80% of the world's chromite reserves and is the dominant exporter of chrome ore, mostly to China. A large share comes as UG2 chrome concentrate recovered from platinum-mine tailings. Zimbabwe's Great Dyke is the #2 African source, and Zimbabwe bans raw chrome ore exports to force local ferrochrome smelting.