Scientists in Australia are exploring the possibility of extracting gallium and germanium as byproducts of mining operations.
Both materials are used in semiconductor manufacturing but have been subject to export restrictions by China, the world’s largest producer of the minerals, in recent years.
Gallium is needed for the production of gallium nitride (GaN), a wide-bandgap material that can handle higher amounts of power than silicon, meaning GaN-based chips can be more efficient and durable than their silicon counterparts. Meanwhile, germanium is used to manufacture high-speed transistors due to its high electron mobility, in addition to fiber-optic cables.
In an interview with Nikkei Asia, Chris Vernon, chemist and principal investigator for green mineral technologies at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), said Australia could help to reduce supply chain pressures due to the country’s high mining rates of minerals that are needed for the production of gallium and germanium.
CISRO is part of a multi-agency effort to study Australia's potential to extract gallium and germanium as by-products from existing mining operations.
Bauxite is a raw material used primarily in the production of aluminium, with most gallium produced as a byproduct of the bauxite ore refinement and smelting process. Gallium can additionally be produced through zinc processing residues, and germanium can also be sourced from zinc ores or coal.
Australia is the world's largest bauxite producer, mining almost a third of global bauxite in Western Australia and Queensland. The country also generates around 20 percent of the world’s zinc, behind Peru and China.
According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), China currently produces 98 percent of the world’s supply of gallium and 60 percent of germanium.
In August 2024, it was reported that Chinese export controls on semiconductor materials had already caused supply chain issues for Western manufacturers, with prices of germanium and gallium almost doubling in Europe during a 12-month period.
More recently, antimony, a mineral used in precision optics, was also placed under export restrictions by China.
