Evening star., 1953-10-02
Once -VoIueIess Metal
Now Precious Element
Strategic Germonium Used
To Make EIectronic Parts
By Thomas R. Henry

The rare. tin-like metal germanium.
valueleSs except as a curiosity few
years ago, now has become the object
of intensive search all over the country.
1t is one of the foundation stones Of
the new industrial giant, electronics.
A source of considerable Importance,
according to a Geological Survey an
nouncement, may be the ashes of GER
tain American Goals.
Germanium is strategic metal now,
considered essential to national de-
fense. At present. it is produced in
Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas as a
by-product of zinc-reflning. 1t Is sold
at about $3.50 pound and about one
pound Is recovered for every 20 car
loads Of zinc ore. The total output Is
around three tons a year, but in few
years, it is predicted, the electronics
industry alone will be demanding more
than 40 tons. Richer sources Of supply
are absolutely essential.
Used in Electronics.
The metal, according to the Geologi-
cal Survey report, now is used basically
in three kinds of electronic parts
diodes, throwbacks to the old cats
whisker radio crystals Of 80 years ago.
rectifiers for changing alternating into
direct current, and, by far the most
important, the transistor. This is es-
sentially bit of germanium about the
size of match head which is replacing
electron tubes throughout much of the
communications field. 1t is smaller
and operates under much less power.
It is essential in all the marvelously
intricate electronic brains now being
set up in laboratories all over the
country.
Geological Survey scientists have
found evidence that germanium and
many other trace elements are concen-
trated largely in that part Of coal
which once constituted the trunks and
branches of woody plants. Highest
concentrations have been found in thin
beds, isolated fossilized logs, and pieces
of woody coal in clay sediments. Lig-
mite logs dating from the Cretaceous
geological period, about a hundred
million years ago, distributed sporadic
cally in the Atlantic coastal plain, con-
tain very high amounts Of the element.
Sometimes it constitutes as much as 7.5
per cent of the ashes from such logs.
Some of the richest coal-logs are just
outside the District of Columbia in
Maryland. The richest bed repaying
commercial exploitation, however is
in Ohio where the coal ash contains
about two-tenths of l per cent of the
now precious element.
Rare Deposits.
Only three minerals containing more
than / per cent of germanium are
known-germanite, argyrodite, and the
recently discovered renierite. None of
these is known to occur in the United
States. Known deposits of the first two
either are exhausted or extremely rare,
and the amount of renierite that may
become available is unknown. Sphale-
rite, the primary ore Of zinc, now is the
major source.
Germanium first was described by the
Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleyev
in 1871. He called it silicon. But
neither he nor anybody else ever saw
a bit of the metal-the Russian had
deduced its properties from its place
in the atomic table-until Is years
later when Clemens Winkler of Ger
many discovered it and named it after
his native land.
Germanium is a little lighter than
zinc or IRON 1t has the gray sheen Of
silver. It costs more than half as much
as gold, but in many devices where it
is used the amount required costs less
than penny.
Considerable germanium is found in
factory chimneys of England. The
coal in use there apparently contains
a relatively large proportion Of the
metal which concentrates in the spot.
Bureau of Mines investigators now are
testing the chimney deposits Of Ameri-
can factories which are large users Of
COAL