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Germanium is a hard, brittle semimetal that first came into use over a half-century ago as a semiconductor material in radar units and in the first transistor ever made. Most germanium is recovered as a byproduct of zinc smelting, but it has also been recovered at some copper smelters and from the fly ash of coal-burning industrial power plants.
Suggested Citation
Jorgenson, J.D., 2003, Mineral resource of the month: germanium: Geotimes, v. 2003, no. June, HTML Document.