This description provides an overview of Australia's role in the global production of germanium. Australia is the world's largest producer of the element, accounting for over half of the world's total production. Germanium is used in a variety of industries, including electronics, optics, and metall
Rare-earth elements (REEs) are a group of 17 chemically similar lustrous silvery-white soft heavy metals. They are highly sought-after as they have diverse applications in electrical and electronic components, lasers, glass, magnetic materials, and industrial processes. Many of these components are used to produce clean energy, as well as in defence industries around the world. Rare-earths are to be distinguished from critical minerals, which are materials of strategic or economic importance that are defined differently by different countries, and rare-earth minerals, which are minerals that contains one or more rare-earth elements as major metal constituents.