Société du Terril de Lubumbashi (STL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gécamines, has entered into an exclusive long-term partnership with Umicore to valorize germanium from the "Big Hill" tailings site in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Under this agreement, Umicore will optimize STL's new processing unit on-site, leveraging its refining and recycling expertise. In return, Umicore will gain exclusive access to processed germanium to produce material solutions for high-tech applications.
For many years, STL has been mining the 14 million tons of metal-bearing slag accumulated over a century of mining activity at the Lubumbashi slag heap. This slag contains valuable metals such as zinc, silver, cobalt, copper, and germanium, which STL has traditionally sold on the market after extraction. Previously, STL's germanium was refined by third parties outside the Congo. Now, the company aims to enhance the value derived from DRC's mining materials by optimizing the recovery of germanium concentrates in-house using its new hydrometallurgical plant, commissioned in 2023.
The first test volumes of germanium concentrates are expected to be refined by Umicore in the last quarter of 2024, followed by an increase in STL's germanium extraction capacities. This collaboration represents a significant step towards maximizing the value of DRC's mining resources and advancing high-tech material solutions.
