Chatham Rock prospecting for germanium at Korella South, Australia
Through Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd.‘s [TSXV: NZP; NZX: CRP; 3GRE: FSE] wholly owned Australian subsidiary Pacific Rare Earths Pty. Ltd., a search for the critical mineral germanium has begun within its Korella South exploration lease EPM28187, Australia.
During the dry season, soil and plant samples in an area in the southeast of the lease will be collected for analysis for germanium.
While the Korella South lease is better known as a phosphate and rare earth element exploration area, also located within the lease is the historic Noranside lead-zinc mine.
With the zinc ore sphalerite, a known source of germanium with much of the world’s germanium, being recovered as a sludge generated in the electrorefining of zinc metal, the area within and adjacent to the Noranside mine is prospective for germanium. The Noranside mine is in the southeast of EPM28187 and adjacent to the highly metallogenic Pilgrim fault.
To the north of Korella South and located on the Pilgrim fault are the historic Tick Hole gold mine and Duchess copper mine.
Soil and plant samples within a one-kilometre radius of the historic Noranside mine will be collected for analysis. The company will also participate in the next round of applications for a collaborative exploration initiative grant to further advance the search for germanium.
While germanium is used in specialized semiconductor applications, the major end uses are fibre optic systems, infrared optics, solar cell applications and light-emitting diodes.
Germanium nanoparticles have size-dependent optical properties, and have potential applications in optoelectronics, biological imaging and therapeutics, flash memories, and lithium-ion batteries.
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