Commodity hub

Germanium

What germanium is

Germanium is a metalloid recovered mainly from zinc-process residues and recycled manufacturing scrap. This factbook follows documented recovery through refined metal, high-purity chemicals, crystals, wafers and infrared optical blanks.

Element tracked: Germanium (Ge)

Why it is critical

Primary germanium reaches covered jurisdictions through a handful of zinc operations - Red Dog concentrates feed the Trail, British Columbia refinery, while the suspended Tennessee mine that fed Clarksville left US primary refinery production at zero for 2021-2025 - and most world producers do not report output, leaving global data limited (USGS MCS 2026, Germanium chapter, pp. 88-89). Recovery circuits at allied zinc smelters are the binding constraint.

Commercial product forms

Germanium Bulk Crystal

Bulk crystal

Germanium Leach Concentrate

Mixed compound

Germanium Dioxide

Oxide

Germanium Optical Blank

Optical blank

Germanium-Bearing Scrap

Host stream

Germanium Tetrachloride

Precursor chemical

Germanium Wafer

Semiconductor wafer

Refined Germanium Metal

Metal

Zinc-Process Germanium-Bearing Residues

Host stream

Supply-chain stages

Refined germanium feeds parallel chemical and crystal-product branches. Germanium tetrachloride is a feedstock chemical; wafers and optical blanks are the final germanium-defined forms in scope.

U.S. and global production

USGS MCS 2022 is the last MCS edition with numeric country estimates for world germanium refinery production. The table includes primary and secondary production, marks United States output withheld, and reports identical 2020 and 2021 estimates. MCS 2023 replaced the figures with an unavailable skeleton; MCS 2026 provides narrative only because most producers do not publicly report output.

Area	2021 refinery production	Reported form
United States	Withheld	refinery production, primary plus secondary
China	95,000 kg	refinery production, primary plus secondary
Russia	5,000 kg	refinery production, primary plus secondary
Other countries	40,000 kg	refinery production, primary plus secondary
World	140,000 kg	refinery production, primary plus secondary

Source: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2022, printed p. 71. Numeric country estimates were discontinued after this edition.

Known deposits and prospectivity

USGS USMIN records 2 germanium sites in its thresholded national release. Earth MRI separately identifies 223 germanium focus areas. The two layers answer different questions and are not combined.

USMIN site	State	Evidence
Apex	Utah	22 resource rows; 7 production notes
Tutsagubet Mining District	Utah	0 resource rows; 0 production notes

Deposits and Earth MRI coverage details

Recovery and recycling facilities

Facility and line	Location	State
Umicore Quapaw germanium materials plant Germanium recycling line	Quapaw, Oklahoma United States	Operating
Lattice Materials Bozeman germanium plant Germanium scrap-to-metal line	Bozeman, Montana United States	Announced
Nyrstar Hobart proposed germanium recovery Proposed germanium recovery line	Hobart, Tasmania Australia	Announced
Umicore Olen germanium complex Germanium recycling and refining line	Olen, Antwerp Belgium	Operating
Teck Trail Operations strategic-metals lines Trail germanium recovery line	Trail, British Columbia Canada	Operating
STL Big Hill germanium recovery plant Big Hill germanium recovery line	Lubumbashi, Haut-Katanga Democratic Republic of the Congo	Operating
Akita Rare Metals gallium and germanium operation Germanium recycling line	Akita, Akita Japan	Operating
Korea Zinc Onsan gallium and germanium projects Onsan germanium-dioxide line	Onsan, Ulsan South Korea	Announced

Refining, chemical and finished-form facilities

High-purity refining

Facility and line	Location	State
Umicore Quapaw germanium materials plant Germanium zone-refining line	Quapaw, Oklahoma United States	Operating
Indium Corporation Rome metals operation Germanium pure-metal line	Rome, New York United States	Operating
5N Plus St. George germanium refinery Germanium zone-refining line	St. George, Utah United States	Operating

Feedstock chemicals

Facility and line	Location	State
Umicore Quapaw germanium materials plant Germanium tetrachloride line	Quapaw, Oklahoma United States	Operating
Umicore Olen germanium complex High-purity germanium chemicals line	Olen, Antwerp Belgium	Operating

Crystals, wafers and optical blanks

Facility and line	Location	State
Umicore Quapaw germanium materials plant Germanium crystal and optical-material line	Quapaw, Oklahoma United States	Operating
Lattice Materials Bozeman germanium plant Optical-grade germanium crystal line	Bozeman, Montana United States	Operating
Umicore Olen germanium complex Germanium crystal and substrate line	Olen, Antwerp Belgium	Operating

Published project capacity

Only a source-stated output capacity appears. Pilot and target values remain labeled and are not summed as commercial output.

Facility	Output	Capacity	Type
5N Plus St. George germanium refinery	Refined Germanium Metal	20 t/year	Target
Korea Zinc Onsan gallium and germanium projects	Germanium Dioxide	10 t/year	Nameplate

Federal and allied programs

Australian smelter critical-minerals support

Australian Department of Industry, Science and Resources

Belgian germanium prefinancing action

Belgian Council of Ministers

Canada Critical Minerals Accelerator

Natural Resources Canada

DPA Title III gallium and germanium investments

U.S. Department of War

DOE coal and coal-byproduct critical-minerals pilots

U.S. Department of Energy

Open opportunities

No germanium opportunity is currently open in the monitored systems. DOE selections remain non-award records in the full ledger.

Full opportunity ledger

Awards, loans and other instruments

Instrument	Amount	Current financial state
Strategic Investment Agreement for Teck Trail	C$400M	Definitive agreement
Australian support package for Nyrstar feasibility work	A$105M	Definitive agreement
DPA Title III investment in Umicore Quapaw	$11.8M	Definitive agreement
DPA Title III investment in 5N Plus germanium refining	$18.1M	Definitive agreement
DPA Title III investment in Lattice Materials	$18.5M	Definitive agreement

Trade and policy timeline

Aug 1, 2023 · China gallium and germanium export licensing regime · In force
Dec 3, 2024 · China US-directed dual-use gallium and germanium measure · In force, suspended through 2026-11-27
Nov 9, 2025 · Temporary suspension of provision 2 of China Announcement No. 46 · Suspension in force through 2026-11-27
Jul 10, 2026 · Belgian consideration of Umicore germanium prefinancing

Briefings on this chain

No germanium briefing has been published yet. The linked records are the launch evidence surface.

Recent changes

Aug 18, 2026 · Umicore Quapaw germanium materials plant · operating
Aug 18, 2026 · Umicore Quapaw germanium materials plant · operating
Aug 18, 2026 · Umicore Quapaw germanium materials plant · operating
Aug 18, 2026 · Umicore Quapaw germanium materials plant · operating
Jul 10, 2026 · Belgian consideration of Umicore germanium prefinancing · announced
Jul 7, 2026 · Teck Trail Operations strategic-metals lines · operating
Jul 7, 2026 · Teck Trail Operations strategic-metals lines · announced
Jul 7, 2026 · Strategic Investment Agreement for Teck Trail · definitive-agreement
Jul 1, 2026 · Coal-byproduct critical-minerals pilot selections · state-transition
Jun 10, 2026 · Nyrstar Hobart proposed germanium recovery · announced
Jun 10, 2026 · Australian support package for Nyrstar feasibility work · definitive-agreement
Jan 30, 2026 · DPA Title III investment in Umicore Quapaw · definitive-agreement

Sources and update history

This hub covers 10 facilities. Its chain-record freshness floor is Aug 15, 2026. Production, facility and policy records carry their own source dates and evidence locators. See methodology for coverage and archive rules.

Sources

U.S. Geological Survey · published Feb 1, 2026 · retrieved Aug 15, 2026 · archive unavailable: Wayback capture queued at record creation 2026-08-15; archive verification deferred to a weekly pass