Germanium (Ge)

Germanium metalloid ingot - one troy ounce - .99999 bullion     Discovered by Clemens Winkler in 1886 and named for his homeland of Germany, Germanium is a silvery metallic element with the same crystalline structure as diamonds when formed under standard conditions. In this form it is very hard and brittle and can break like a piece of glass if dropped or mishandled. It is a rare metal, with an average concentration in the Earth's crust of 1.6 parts per million. In 2011 only about 118 tonnes was mined worldwide (compared with about 2500 tonnes of gold), with China producing 80 tonnes and the next largest producing country being Russia with 5 tonnes. This could make it subject to supply disruptions and accounts for its inclusion along with several of our other metals with a position of prominence on the BGS World Mineral Statistics Risk List (see below link).Germanium's semiconductor properties began being utilized in electronic military devices during World War II. It has since been