IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jrpoli/v47y2016icp38-50.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On the current and future availability of gallium

Author

Listed:
  • Frenzel, Max
  • Ketris, Marina P.
  • Seifert, Thomas
  • Gutzmer, Jens

Abstract

By-product availability curves were constructed for the production of gallium from bauxite, sulphidic zinc ores and coal. They were used to assess the nature of the current supply regime, as well as its potential future development. Not only was the current situation found to be firmly in the elastic supply regime for all three raw materials, indicating that significant future increases in primary gallium production are possible without increases in the production of the corresponding main products, but it was also found that current supply potential from bauxite and sulphidic zinc ores alone is at least five times higher than current primary production. Coal offers a significant additional supply potential (currently at least ~1.3 times primary gallium production). An extrapolation of growth trends for the primary production of bauxite, zinc and gallium into the future indicates that the minimum supply potential will not be utilised completely before 2050. Once this point is reached, additional increases in primary gallium production relative to the production of bauxite and zinc will still be possible via decreases in the relevant cut-off grades for extraction from these raw materials. No persistent shortages are expected in the foreseeable future. Short-term shortages might, however, occur but will not be due to geological factors. Our results clearly refute the notion that the supply of all by-product high-tech metals is currently restricted by their physical abundance in associated main products. Rather, the chief limitation appears to be installed production capacity.

Suggested Citation

  • Frenzel, Max & Ketris, Marina P. & Seifert, Thomas & Gutzmer, Jens, 2016. "On the current and future availability of gallium," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 38-50.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:47:y:2016:i:c:p:38-50
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2015.11.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301420715001233
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.resourpol.2015.11.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Phillips, W. G. B. & Edwards, D. P., 1976. "Metal prices as a function of ore grade," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 167-178, September.
    2. Yaksic, Andrés & Tilton, John E., 2009. "Using the cumulative availability curve to assess the threat of mineral depletion: The case of lithium," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 185-194, December.
    3. Campbell, Gary A., 1985. "The role of co-products in stabilizing the metal mining industry," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 267-274, December.
    4. Fizaine, Florian, 2013. "Byproduct production of minor metals: Threat or opportunity for the development of clean technologies? The PV sector as an illustration," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 373-383.
    5. Jordan, Brett W. & Eggert, Roderick G. & Dixon, Brent W. & Carlsen, Brett W., 2015. "Thorium: Crustal abundance, joint production, and economic availability," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 81-93.
    6. Christina Licht & Laura Talens Peiró & Gara Villalba, 2015. "Global Substance Flow Analysis of Gallium, Germanium, and Indium: Quantification of Extraction, Uses, and Dissipative Losses within their Anthropogenic Cycles," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 19(5), pages 890-903, October.
    7. Afflerbach, Patrick & Fridgen, Gilbert & Keller, Robert & Rathgeber, Andreas W. & Strobel, Florian, 2014. "The by-product effect on metal markets – New insights to the price behavior of minor metals," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 35-44.
    8. Frenzel, Max & Tolosana-Delgado, Raimon & Gutzmer, Jens, 2015. "Assessing the supply potential of high-tech metals – A general method," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(P2), pages 45-58.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Frenzel, Max & Mikolajczak, Claire & Reuter, Markus A. & Gutzmer, Jens, 2017. "Quantifying the relative availability of high-tech by-product metals – The cases of gallium, germanium and indium," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 327-335.
    2. Emilio Castillo & Roderick Eggert, 2019. "Reconciling Diverging Views on Mineral Depletion: A Modified Cumulative Availability Curve Applied to Copper Resources," Working Papers 2019-02, Colorado School of Mines, Division of Economics and Business.
    3. Gervais, Estelle & Shammugam, Shivenes & Friedrich, Lorenz & Schlegl, Thomas, 2021. "Raw material needs for the large-scale deployment of photovoltaics – Effects of innovation-driven roadmaps on material constraints until 2050," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    4. André Månberger, 2021. "Reduced Use of Fossil Fuels can Reduce Supply of Critical Resources," Biophysical Economics and Resource Quality, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 1-15, June.
    5. Nassar, Nedal T. & Wilburn, David R. & Goonan, Thomas G., 2016. "Byproduct metal requirements for U.S. wind and solar photovoltaic electricity generation up to the year 2040 under various Clean Power Plan scenarios," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 1209-1226.
    6. Helbig, Christoph & Bradshaw, Alex M. & Kolotzek, Christoph & Thorenz, Andrea & Tuma, Axel, 2016. "Supply risks associated with CdTe and CIGS thin-film photovoltaics," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 422-433.
    7. Valero, Alicia & Valero, Antonio & Calvo, Guiomar & Ortego, Abel, 2018. "Material bottlenecks in the future development of green technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 178-200.
    8. Werner, Tim T. & Mudd, Gavin M. & Jowitt, Simon M. & Huston, David, 2023. "Rhenium mineral resources: A global assessment," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    9. Jordan, Brett, 2018. "Economics literature on joint production of minerals: A survey," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 20-28.
    10. Song, Huiling & Wang, Chang & Lei, Xiaojie & Zhang, Hongwei, 2022. "Dynamic dependence between main-byproduct metals and the role of clean energy market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jordan, Brett, 2018. "Economics literature on joint production of minerals: A survey," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 20-28.
    2. Frenzel, Max & Tolosana-Delgado, Raimon & Gutzmer, Jens, 2015. "Assessing the supply potential of high-tech metals – A general method," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(P2), pages 45-58.
    3. Redlinger, Michael & Eggert, Roderick, 2016. "Volatility of by-product metal and mineral prices," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 69-77.
    4. Frenzel, Max & Mikolajczak, Claire & Reuter, Markus A. & Gutzmer, Jens, 2017. "Quantifying the relative availability of high-tech by-product metals – The cases of gallium, germanium and indium," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 327-335.
    5. Kim, Kihyung, 2020. "Jointly produced metal markets are endogenously unstable," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    6. Shammugam, Shivenes & Rathgeber, Andreas & Schlegl, Thomas, 2019. "Causality between metal prices: Is joint consumption a more important determinant than joint production of main and by-product metals?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 49-66.
    7. Choi, Chul Hun & Kim, Sang-Phil & Lee, Seokcheon & Zhao, Fu, 2020. "Game theoretic production decisions of by-product materials critical for clean energy technologies - Indium as a case study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    8. Jordan, Brett W, 2017. "Companions and competitors: Joint metal-supply relationships in gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc mines," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 233-250.
    9. Song, Huiling & Wang, Chang & Lei, Xiaojie & Zhang, Hongwei, 2022. "Dynamic dependence between main-byproduct metals and the role of clean energy market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    10. André Månberger, 2021. "Reduced Use of Fossil Fuels can Reduce Supply of Critical Resources," Biophysical Economics and Resource Quality, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 1-15, June.
    11. Elshkaki, Ayman & Graedel, T.E., 2015. "Solar cell metals and their hosts: A tale of oversupply and undersupply," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 167-177.
    12. António Mateus & Luís Martins, 2021. "Building a mineral-based value chain in Europe: the balance between social acceptance and secure supply," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 34(2), pages 239-261, July.
    13. Juan Ignacio Guzmán & Enrique Silva, 2018. "Copper price determination: fundamentals versus non-fundamentals," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 31(3), pages 283-300, October.
    14. Teixeira, Bernardo & Brito, Miguel Centeno & Mateus, António, 2024. "Raw materials for the Portuguese decarbonization roadmap: The case of solar photovoltaics and wind energy," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    15. Helbig, Christoph & Bradshaw, Alex M. & Kolotzek, Christoph & Thorenz, Andrea & Tuma, Axel, 2016. "Supply risks associated with CdTe and CIGS thin-film photovoltaics," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 422-433.
    16. Fizaine, Florian, 2013. "Byproduct production of minor metals: Threat or opportunity for the development of clean technologies? The PV sector as an illustration," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 373-383.
    17. Shao, Liuguo & Hu, Wenqin & Yang, Danhui, 2020. "The price relationship between main-byproduct metals from a multiscale nonlinear Granger causality perspective," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    18. Emilio Castillo & Roderick Eggert, 2019. "Reconciling Diverging Views on Mineral Depletion: A Modified Cumulative Availability Curve Applied to Copper Resources," Working Papers 2019-02, Colorado School of Mines, Division of Economics and Business.
    19. Afflerbach, Patrick & Fridgen, Gilbert & Keller, Robert & Rathgeber, Andreas W. & Strobel, Florian, 2014. "The by-product effect on metal markets – New insights to the price behavior of minor metals," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 35-44.
    20. Jinjian Cao & Chul Hun Choi & Fu Zhao, 2021. "Agent-Based Modeling for By-Product Metal Supply—A Case Study on Indium," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-28, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:47:y:2016:i:c:p:38-50. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/30467 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.