Verification of germanium reserves: international experience, economic feasibility and prospects for Ukraine

Анотація

The European Union classifies germanium as a Critical Raw Material (CRM), which has limited supply and high economic importance. Given the availability of promising deposits and man-made sources of germanium, Ukraine has every chance to strengthen its role in global supply chain of this raw material. However, this requires verification of reserves and resources that meet international standards. Given that the main suppliers of germanium are concentrated in China, the EU is actively seeking to diversify its sources, particularly through projects in Canada, Africa and partner countries such as Ukraine.In today’s global competition for critical mineral resources, germanium (Ge) plays a strategic role in developing of semiconductor, defense, and energy technologies.For Ukraine, which has proven resources of germanium, the main challenge is not only the presence of this element in the subsoil, but also the verification of reserves in accordance with international standards. This verification is key element in the formation of an effective national policy of critical raw materials.The Plan for Ukraine was presented in March 2024. It outlines a medium-term vision for socioeconomic growth and tools for restoring, reconstructing, and modernizing the state. The plan accelerates Ukraine’s path to EU membership.Chapter 13 of this plan outlines the development plan (including reform directions) for the critical materials management sector. It envisages the reform of the national policy and regulatory framework in the field of critical materials and raw materials, in particular the development and adoption of a National Geological Strategy.In addition, it is planned to conduct a verification and reassessment of critical raw material reserves using international classification systems, in particular the UNFC, which, among other things, led to the implementation of research work on the topic: “Verification of critical/strategic mineral reserves in Ukraine”.Ukraine has quite large total resources of germanium in the form of an associated component in the coal of the Donbas and Lviv-Volyn basins, as well as in Precambrian iron ores and ores of polymetallic and gold-polymetallic deposits.The State Balance of Mineral Resources of Ukraine records 208 (69 under development) objects with germanium reserves in hard coal of the Donetsk and Lviv-Volyn basins. The list includes operating mines and mines under construction, and reserve areas for the construction and reconstruction of mines. It also includes areas with promising prospects for exploration, vacant areas near operating mines and closed mines. In deposits where state expertise was conducted, germanium was classified as an associated useful component of uncertain industrial significance (class code 332).The world uses the CRIRSCO international standards for compatible schemes (JORC, PERC, CIM, SAMREC). These standards work in harmony with the UN system – UNFC (United Nations Framework Classification for Resources), which is implemented in many countries, including Ukraine.In the EU, the USA, and China, verification of stocks of related elements is the basis of critical materials strategies.Ukraine has a significant, but not yet fully verified, potential for germanium, an element that meets the status of a critical raw material for the EU.Verification of stocks, in accordance with international standards and the terms of the Ukraine Facility Plan, is a key mechanism for: attracting investment; developing local processing and industrial production; integrating Ukraine into European critical materials chains; economic sustainability, technological modernization, and geopolitical influence.This is not only a geological task, but also a strategic vector of the country’s economic development during the post-war period and within the framework of European integration processes.

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