金融英语阅读：Rare metal germanium left for dead

会计考友

　　The germanium, a rare metal seldom mentioned, is withering away the hands of the industry. And the development of this resource in China, which is still in the initial phase of making germanium ingot and conducting rough processing, calls for people's watchful eyes, an industry expert told the National Business Daily (NBC) Friday.
. D' e- C: H2 f( k7 ?" z8 l* X　　With a globally-verified deposit of 8,600 tons – far below that of the gold (89,000 tons) – this non-renewable resource, if without proper protection can only be used for 40 years.
　　As the world's second-largest reserve, China accounts for 41 percent of the whole reserve; while the US occupies 45 percent, which it has hardly exploited, said Yuan Li, a nonferrous metal analyst.
　　In order to effectively protect the resource, experts say that the Chinese government should collect germanium resources and help germanium-related companies form an industrial chain in the country.
6 r7 U$ P- L5 e, z* ~" u) p　　Besides the governmental aids, companies should also focus on deep processing and yielding high value-added productions.
　　The germanium, as an important rare metal for the development of aerospace engineering and new energy tech, is a semiconductor material, which can be used in transistors and various other electronic devices.
　　It can also be used in fiber-optic systems, infrared optics, polymerization catalysts, and in electronics and solar cell applications, and is finding a new usage in nanowires.
+ Q( Y( t5 G8 F# d' m, J( @　　Guangdong, Yunnan, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Jilin, Shanxi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Guizhou are major producing areas of the resource, covering 96 percent of the country's entire reserve.