Gallium

Gallium is produced primarily as a by-product of alumina production from bauxite ores and, to a much lesser extent, from the smelting and refining of zinc from sphalerite. It is also recovered from wastes generated by the manufacture of semiconductor wafers. The largest producers of primary gallium are China, Germany and Kazakhstan while Japan is the largest producer of secondary gallium. The main uses of gallium are primarily in semi-conductors for electronics, although there are a number of other applications. End products include mobile phones, laser emitting diodes (LED), satelite TV, global positioning systems (GPS) and photovoltaics, amongst many others.