Image brochure HIF

2 Mission: Securing Strategic Resources for the Economy “In principle, there are enough high tech metals. The trick is to make them available.” Cerium, gallium, germanium, indium, lanthanum, yttrium – the list of speciality metals is long which are needed to produce components for energy saving lamps, solar cells, mobile phones, flat screen TVs, computers, and other technically sophisticated products. Actually, these high tech metals are available in sufficient quantities around the globe. But the increasing demand coming especially from emerging and developing countries, the unequal distribution of natural resources, and the decreasing quality of these re- sources all threaten the stability of their supply. Germany, a high tech country, has to come up with a sustainable concept to supply its industry with these economically important strategic resources. That’s why the German Federal Government established the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF) in 2011 – as a joint institution of the research center Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf and the TU Bergakademie Freiberg. HIF makes a valuable contribution towards the national raw materials strategy. Prof. Jens Gutzmer, Director of the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology Cassiterite, which every miner knows, is still considered to be an important mineral today. It often contains niobium and tantalum, even if they’re only found in small quantities. Title page: Crystal aggregate of chalcopyrite, galenite, sphalerite, and calcite. It contains indium, germanium, and silver. Place of discovery: The Rhodope Mountains, Bulgaria.

Image brochure HIF

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