China makes major breakthroughs in rare and dispersed metals development
2025-11-27 17:13:41 [Print]
China has made significant progress in the development and utilization of rare and dispersed metals such as gallium, germanium, and indium, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources.
New extraction techniques have greatly improved recovery rates for low-grade, co-occurring dispersed metals. Recovery rates of germanium from coal have risen from 55% to over 80%, while gallium, germanium, and indium recovery during lead-zinc smelting has increased by around 10%. In copper smelting, selenium, tellurium, and rhenium recovery rates have improved to 97%, 90%, and 80% respectively.
Breakthroughs have also been made in producing high-purity metal products and the key equipment required. China has independently developed five core pieces of equipment, including a temperature-gradient condensation-crystal-orientation controlled directional crystallizer, enabling stable mass production of 8N-grade high-purity gallium for semiconductor molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The country has also developed its first domestic planar high-purity germanium detector, filling a critical gap. Production lines for ultra-high-purity germanium and other high-end raw materials have been established, achieving a transition from basic to high-end products. These advances break foreign monopolies on high-end materials and boost domestic self-sufficiency. The self-supply rate of key strategic metals such as MBE-grade gallium, LCD panel indium, germanium single-crystal substrates, and cadmium telluride thin films has risen to over 70%, supporting defense, new energy, 5G communications, and semiconductor industries.
In China, rare dispersed metals are mainly associated with coal, aluminum, copper, lead, zinc, and molybdenum deposits. Historically, extraction and processing faced long, inefficient workflows, low recovery rates, and unstable quality of high-purity products. The latest breakthroughs help reduce dependence on imported high-end materials and strengthen China's position in advanced technology sectors.
New extraction techniques have greatly improved recovery rates for low-grade, co-occurring dispersed metals. Recovery rates of germanium from coal have risen from 55% to over 80%, while gallium, germanium, and indium recovery during lead-zinc smelting has increased by around 10%. In copper smelting, selenium, tellurium, and rhenium recovery rates have improved to 97%, 90%, and 80% respectively.
Breakthroughs have also been made in producing high-purity metal products and the key equipment required. China has independently developed five core pieces of equipment, including a temperature-gradient condensation-crystal-orientation controlled directional crystallizer, enabling stable mass production of 8N-grade high-purity gallium for semiconductor molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The country has also developed its first domestic planar high-purity germanium detector, filling a critical gap. Production lines for ultra-high-purity germanium and other high-end raw materials have been established, achieving a transition from basic to high-end products. These advances break foreign monopolies on high-end materials and boost domestic self-sufficiency. The self-supply rate of key strategic metals such as MBE-grade gallium, LCD panel indium, germanium single-crystal substrates, and cadmium telluride thin films has risen to over 70%, supporting defense, new energy, 5G communications, and semiconductor industries.
In China, rare dispersed metals are mainly associated with coal, aluminum, copper, lead, zinc, and molybdenum deposits. Historically, extraction and processing faced long, inefficient workflows, low recovery rates, and unstable quality of high-purity products. The latest breakthroughs help reduce dependence on imported high-end materials and strengthen China's position in advanced technology sectors.
