CENSZ – Critical Elements in Nonsulphide Zinc Deposits

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The definition Critical Elements (CE) is assigned to those raw materials that are characterized by high supply risk and their high economic importance for the world/EU economy. Their high supply risk for EU is because Europe does not have enough primary resources of its own. The supply has to be satisfied by the global market production, which is often from geopolitically sensitive regions. It is recognised that recycling can only make a limited contribution to supplying European needs.. The central aim is to establish a comprehensive database of some of the most strategically important CE (Gallium, Indium and Germanium hereafter referred to by the acronym ‘GIG’) deportment within Nonsulphide Zinc (+Lead) deposits (NSZ) occurring within the Critical Zone of the crust, normally formed after the weathering and modification of Zn-Pb sulphide protores. These deposits have been exploited in the past in Europe (Italy, Belgium, Poland), and are currently exploited in several countries of the world, but they were never considered as a potential source for GIG even though some of the sulphide progenitors often contain these elements.