Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: Earth knowledge Bureau (ID:diqiuzhishiju)

On July 3, China's Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs jointly issued a notice on the implementation of Export controls on Gallium and Germanium-related items. The announcement shows that since August 1, 14 related items including metal gallium and germanium shall be subject to export control, and shall not be exported without license!

Implement export control on gallium and germanium related items

The aim is to safeguard national security and interests.

(photo: screenshot of the website of the Ministry of Commerce) ▼

After the promulgation of export controls, international gallium prices soared 27% in just five days, and rare metals, rare earths and other sectors in the capital market also rose sharply.

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We have talked about many kinds of resources that China is short of before, but there are also many resources that China has advantages, and it is "dominant" all over the world. Gallium and germanium are two of them. Today, let's talk about how powerful our gallium and germanium are and what are our shortcomings.

China is not short of gallium and germanium gallium and germanium belong to the earth's "scattered metals", as the name suggests, is not only rare, but also extremely scattered, there are very few independent deposits.

The criterion for judging rarity is "abundance", that is, the average content of elements in the earth's crust. For example, per ton of crustal material, only 15 grams of gallium, that is, 0.0015%, germanium is only 1/10 of gallium, and each ton of crustal material contains only 1.5 grams of germanium, or 0.00015%. By comparison, the abundance of iron is 5.6% and aluminum is 8.2%, which is completely incomparable.

Aluminum is the most abundant metal element in the earth's crust.

Although these two metals are few, they have a wide range of uses.

Gallium has a melting point of only 29.78 ℃, making it one of the few metals that can remain liquid at room temperature. The R & D and production of leading technologies such as satellite communications, semiconductors, solar energy and artificial intelligence are inseparable from gallium. 80% of the metal gallium is consumed in the semiconductor industry, so advanced industrial countries attach great importance to gallium.

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Gallium metal is non-toxic and can melt in your hand. It's fun.

The United States has already listed gallium as a list of 35 key minerals, while the European Union has listed it as a list of 61 key raw materials. In 2011, China also listed gallium as a strategic reserve metal.

99.999% Gallium Crystal (figure: wiki) ▼

Germanium also has many uses. Based on its good semiconductor and optoelectronic properties, semiconductors, optical fiber communications, infrared optics, solar cells, chemical catalysts, and biomedicine all need germanium, especially in the field of infrared photosensitivity. it is highly irreplaceable, which, of course, involves the military field. Therefore, the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada and the European Union have all listed germanium in the key mineral catalogue and strictly controlled it.

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Germanium-doped fiber has the advantages of large capacity, low light loss, low dispersion,

Long transmission distance, free from environmental interference and other advantages

As the main body of the optical communication network

It is the only optical fiber that can be applied in engineering at present.

It is not easy to find deposits of gallium and germanium, which are rarely mineralized individually, but are dispersed in the associated components of various polymetallic deposits.

Because gallium can replace elements similar to its own size and charge, it can infiltrate into other deposits. For example, it exists in bauxite instead of aluminum to form "bauxite-type associated gallium deposit" and a small amount of zinc in sphalerite to form "lead-zinc type associated gallium deposit". In addition, gallium can also be associated in coal seams to form "coal-type associated gallium deposits".

Associated gallium can be found in these deposits.

Based on the same principle. Germanium is also mainly distributed in "coal type" germanium-bearing deposits and "lead-zinc" germanium deposits.

Therefore, gallium and germanium for industrial use mainly come from the by-products of these deposits.

In terms of deposit types, bauxite is the main source of gallium. At present, 90% of the world's gallium is produced as a by-product of the aluminum industry. The content of associated gallium is different in different regions and different types of bauxite. There are generally 50 grams of gallium in each ton of raw ore. For example, Guizhou bauxite in China generally contains 122 to 127 grams of gallium per ton.

Red bauxite that produces aluminum and by-product gallium

In addition, gallium can also be extracted from crude zinc distillation residue during zinc hydrometallurgy of sphalerite. The gallium content in coal mines is generally not high, generally 10-30 grams per ton, but the gallium content in Zhungeer coalfield, Inner Mongolia, is as high as 30-70 grams per ton, which is a newly discovered super-large gallium-rich deposit in recent years.

Zhungeer Coalfield located in Ordos City

Owns the largest open-pit coal mine in Asia

(figure: Google maps) ▼

Although these proportions seem to be very low, the basic amount of bauxite and coal mines is very large, and there is naturally a lot of gallium that can be extracted by the way.

China is also a large country of germanium resources. "lead-zinc" germanium-bearing deposits are mainly distributed in the low-temperature metallogenic domain of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou. "coal-type" germanium-bearing deposits are mainly distributed in Inner Mongolia and Yunnan, including Yimin Wushang, Inner Mongolia, Wulantuga, Inner Mongolia and Lincang, Yunnan.

"lead-zinc type" belongs to germanium ore bearing type of carbonate rock.

Germanium from coal seam is the main germanium resource type ▼ in China.

At present, the global statistical gallium reserves are about 270000 tons, of which China accounts for nearly 70 percent, or about 190000 tons, ranking first in the world. The rest of gallium is mainly distributed in Africa, the United States, South America, Europe and other places.

China has the largest amount of gallium resources, ▼

Compared with gallium, the global reserves of germanium are much less, about 8600 tons, the United States 3870 tons, accounting for 45%, followed by China, 3500 tons, accounting for 41%; Russia 860 tons, accounting for 10%, the three are basically equal to the global proven reserves.

Horizontal screen-Distribution of Gallium and Germanium Resources in the World

China's gallium and germanium are absolutely in the lead, ▼.

Although China is rich in gallium reserves, ≠ production requires a whole set of industrial chains from coarse to fine, and the whole industrial chain of gallium has high requirements for capital and technology, which is divided into three links:

First of all, raw materials and primary processing, need gallium-containing zinc blende, alumina ores, waste dust and coal seams as raw materials, and then use Bayer method to process these raw materials into crude gallium.

Then there is deep processing, which is divided into two parts, one is to prepare crude gallium into high purity gallium by electrolytic refining, and the other is to prepare crude gallium or high purity gallium into gallium arsenide, gallium nitride, gallium oxide and other compounds by electrolysis in lye, liquid sealing method, sol-gel method and so on.

Finally, the application products, the gallium-containing compounds are produced into copper indium gallium selenium thin films, laser diodes, radio frequency electronic equipment, catalysts and other components application products.

Gallium Industry chain signifies ▼

In these three links, China is absolutely dominant only in the primary processing of crude gallium products. The global output of crude gallium is 324 tons in 2019. Among them, China is in an absolutely dominant position of 310 tons, accounting for 95.68%. However, the independent production capacity of high-end gallium products is very low and highly dependent on imports from the United States and Japan.

China occupies an absolute leading position in the output of crude gallium ▼

There are more than 30 crude gallium manufacturers in the world, mainly large aluminum plants and non-ferrous metal smelters, mainly in China, Russia, Ukraine and Germany. However, high-purity gallium and recycled gallium are mainly produced by Japan and the United States, and are used in their own integrated circuits, semiconductors and other industries.

▼, the world's leading gallium producer

Distribution map of gallium consumption structure ▼

This forms a special structure. China produces crude gallium, the United States and Japan produce high-purity gallium and semiconductor products, while the United States and Japan also use semiconductor cards on China's neck. If China wants to develop its own semiconductor industry, it is not enough to have crude gallium, but also imports high-purity gallium from the United States and Japan.

2017-2022 China Gallium Import and Export ▼

And China's crude gallium production has risen sharply since 2011, resulting in an oversupply of crude gallium and a sharp drop in prices. With the supply-side reform in China and the increase in global consumption of gallium, the supply and demand pattern of gallium continued to tighten after 2015, and the price of cabbage, which had been sold for too long, finally rose again.

Price trend of 4N Gallium in China ▼

It can be said that although we control the production capacity of crude gallium, we are also trapped in the low-end link, not only low profits, but also high-end goods still rely on imports.

Global Gallium production and supply and demand balance ▼ in 2005-2019

Similar to the case of gallium, the germanium industry chain is also divided into three parts: upstream (raw materials, primary industry), middle reaches (deep processing, component industry), and downstream (terminal products such as infrared and optical fiber).

Germanium Industry chain indicates ▼

Among them, the technical difficulty of upstream raw materials and primary processing is the lowest, but the pressure of environmental protection is great, and the advantage of our country is mainly in this aspect. In 2019, China accounted for 65.4% of the world's output.

Global germanium production and China's proportion of ▼

As germanium plays an important role in both military and civilian fields, optical fiber, infrared optics and solar cells are inseparable from germanium. The consumption of germanium often corresponds to the national military strength and economic level. At present, China, the United States and Japan consume more than 80% of the world's germanium.

Changes in global germanium industrial structure since 2015

The proportion of infrared, optical fiber and solar cells is growing steadily ▼

Although China is also the largest exporter of germanium, the problems encountered are similar to gallium. We mainly export primary germanium products to western developed countries. As the manufacturing technology of high-end germanium products used in infrared and optical fiber in China is not yet mature, high-end germanium products such as "germanium single crystal" and "germanium tetrachloride" for optical fiber basically rely on imports.

Export primary germanium products and import high-end germanium products ▼

Nowadays, with the rapid development of infrared, optical fiber, solar energy and other fields in China, the demand for germanium is also increasing, so it is imperative to tackle key technical problems of high-end germanium products.

It is imperative to protect strategic resources in recent years, Western countries have intensified their crackdown on China in the semiconductor industry downstream of key metals.

At the end of May this year, Japan announced export restrictions on 23 kinds of semiconductor equipment and materials, which were formally implemented on July 23. On June 30, the Netherlands, the world's largest producer of lithography machines, announced a further tightening of its export policy for high-end DUV lithography machines, which will restrict exports to China from September 1.

Lithography machine is the core equipment for chip manufacturing.

In fact, many rare key metals are supplied by China, and there are few alternative elements, so why should China supply to Western countries and let them make chips which in turn get stuck in China's neck?

China is a big country of gallium and germanium resources, production and export. It has made a great contribution to the global industrial chain over the years. In the context of industrial upgrading, it is very reasonable to strengthen the development and control of strategic resources, and western countries themselves have done the same.

ChatGPT was born at the end of last year.

The United States has restricted the export of advanced chips to China several months in advance.

(figure: Reuters) ▼

For example, the United States has the largest germanium reserves in the world, but it is protected as a strategic resource, restricting mining, and demand is imported from China and other countries. Although China has the second largest reserves, it supplies 70% of the global consumption, and germanium resources have been overexploited. We want to develop our own high-end manufacturing and strategic emerging industries, and the consumption of germanium will be huge in the future.

Therefore, rational exploitation of rare metals and export restrictions can not only reduce the abuse of resources, but also enable China's industry to obtain more adequate and higher-quality strategic resources, and further enhance international competitiveness.

Reference:

Announcement of the General Administration of Customs of the Ministry of Commerce No. 23 of 2023 on the implementation of export controls on gallium and germanium-related items (mofcom.gov.cn)

2 Ministry of Foreign Affairs: it is an international practice to impose export controls on gallium and germanium related items, and EU member states also implement export controls on some items | World wide Web _ Sina Finance _ Sina (sina.com.cn)

4 Chinese gallium, germanium, thallium and cadmium resources Wen Hanjie, 2020, Science Bulletin

5 main scientific problems of supernormal enrichment of scattered metals, Wen Hanjie et al., 2019, Acta Petrology

(6) geochemistry of dispersed elements and metallogenic mechanism, etc.

Zhang Liman, Zhang Hui, Liang Qian, Wang Xiaoqiang, Yu Wenli, Yan Huiyuan. 2022. Distribution and Development of Gallium Mineral Resources and thoughts on the Development of Gallium Industry in China [J] Mineral Exploration, 13 (8): 1235li 1240

8 Chinese industrial information. Analysis of the output, demand and price trend of germanium in China in 2018 [EB / OL] [2019 mur06mur11]. Http: / / www.chyxx.com/ industry / 201803 / 616917.html.

Dai Shifeng, Ren Delong, Li Shengsheng. Discovery of Zhungeer super-large gallium deposit in Inner Mongolia. Science Bulletin, 2006 − 51: 177

Lu Ting, Liu Xuan, Zhang Yanfei, et al. Study on the Development Strategy of China's Indium Germanium and Gallium Industry based on Industry chain Analysis [J]. Resource Science, 2015, 37 (5): 1008-1017.

Wu Qiujie, Lu Zhenfu, Cao Jincheng, etc. Study on the distribution of supply and demand of gallium resources and the development of gallium industry chain at home and abroad [J]. Comprehensive Utilization of Mineral Resources, 2021 No. 231 (05): 38-44.

15 Gallium Statistics and Information | room.Geological Survey (usgs.gov)

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