Pre-study PhytoGerm Germanium extraction from plants - economic feasibility study

Project description and research content

The joint project "PhytoGerm" is part of the "r³ - Innovative Technologies for Resource Efficiency - Strategic Metals and Minerals" programme of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. As part of the research project, both the technical feasibility and the commercial application of extracting germanium from biomass are being investigated.

The properties of the semiconductor germanium are similar to those of tin and silicon. In current studies by the European Commission, the metalloid is considered a critical raw material due to its high economic importance and the considerable supply risk - comparable to rare earths and platinum group metals.

This preliminary study is intended to provide an initial, rough estimation of the economic viability of phytomining germanium in Germany and Europe based on the research results available to date.

The economic feasibility study is divided into three sections. Firstly, a market study on germanium is prepared in order to obtain an assessment of supply, demand and price trends. The underlying technology of phytomining germanium is then analysed. The economic analysis focuses on established phytomining processes, while potential process variants that are currently still in the testing phase are not considered further. In addition to the description of the process, the investment and operating costs are estimated and compared with the processing costs of the mining industry in order to assess the benefits of investing in the phytomining of germanium. Finally, an economic evaluation of the project is carried out.

Under the technical direction of Prof. Dr rer. pol. Michael Höck, Dipl.-Wi.-Ing Lars Rentsch is entrusted with the processing of the work packages.

Publications

M. Höck , L. Rentsch, I. Aubel, N. Schreiter, M. Bertau: PhytoGerm - Extraction of Germanium from biomass, in: Journal of Business Chemistry, Volume 13, Issue 1, pp. 47-58.

Links

http://www.r3-innovation.de/r3/en/navi/index.php?we_objectID=15433

https://www.fona.de/de/bergbau-mit-pflanzen-die-gewinnung-von-germanium-durch-blaetter-20374.html