Grams, not tons: gallium, germanium, indium and high-purity silicon inside accelerators and optical links.
Chips and the lasers that link GPUs together depend on byproduct metals produced mostly in China and now under Chinese export licensing. Volumes are tiny, so there are almost no pure-play miners. The investable exposure sits with refiners, smelters that recover byproducts, and wafer makers.
This is the highest-criticality, least-liquid bucket. Price spikes outside China have been extreme, but listed exposure is indirect, and some of the best performers are downstream users rather than suppliers.
Context: Reuters — Niche metals test West's resilience (Sep 2026) · Asia Times, Sep 2026
Supply status and the main constraint for each mineral, from its sourced profile in the database.
China supplied ~99% of primary gallium in 2025; prices outside China ran 9–10x 2023 levels, and S&P Global sees a ~678 t ex-China gap.
China held ~69% of supply in 2025; Western warehouse prices topped $6,000/kg vs ~$3,100/kg inside China. USGS withholds world production data.
Beijing has restricted indium exports since Feb 2025; prices rose from ~$250/kg to ~$805/kg by Aug 2026.
China produces ~87% of silicon metal, though high-purity polysilicon for chips has more diversified supply.
SiC power devices in solid-state transformers, high-voltage DC data-center power, inverters and EV chargers.
Grouped from diversified majors to developers and funds. Market data as of October 6, 2026.
Canadian copper and zinc miner whose Trail complex in British Columbia is one of the world's largest integrated germanium producers. That makes it a rare Western source of a chip-grade metal China now restricts.
Canada Growth Fund and Natural Resources Canada agreed to fund strategic-metals output at the Trail smelter. (Teck, Jul 7 2026 ↗)US aluminum and alumina producer. Gallium can be recovered from alumina refining, and Alcoa is building a gallium plant at its Wagerup refinery in Western Australia.
US Department of Defense committed a $174M equity investment to the Wagerup gallium project. (Asia Times, Sep 2026 ↗)South Korea's largest nonferrous smelter and a major recoverer of byproduct critical metals such as indium, antimony and bismuth. It is building a US smelter in Clarksville, Tennessee.
Pentagon to hold 40% of the Tennessee smelter joint venture; US strategic investors get about 10% of Korea Zinc. (Reuters, Jun 17 2026 ↗)Belgian materials and recycling company covering battery cathodes, catalysts and specialty metals, including germanium products.
German chemicals group and one of the few non-Chinese makers of hyper-pure polysilicon for semiconductor wafers.
Maker of indium phosphide and gallium arsenide wafers. Indium phosphide is the base material for the lasers inside data-center optical links. Much of its production sits in China.
Canadian specialty-semiconductor maker that produces high-purity germanium wafers, used mainly in space solar cells, plus other specialty-metal compounds.
One of the largest Western producers of silicon metal and ferroalloys, the upstream raw material for polysilicon and silicones.
Downstream photonics company that makes indium-phosphide lasers and silicon-carbide materials for AI networking and data-center power. It is a buyer of critical minerals rather than a producer.
| Company / fund | Minerals | Type | HQ | 12 mo | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| COHR | Coherent | InSiC | Downstream user | US | $66B | +198% | +76.5% | |
| TECK | Teck Resources | CuZnGeIn | Producer | CA | $32B | +55.2% | +40.3% | |
| 010130.KS | Korea Zinc | ZnPbInSb+4 | Refiner / processor | KR | $17B | +20.7% | -13.9% | |
| AA | Alcoa | AlGa | Producer | US | $11B | +25.1% | -20.4% | |
| UMI.BR UMICY | Umicore | CoNiGePt | Refiner / processor | BE | $5.7B | +39.5% | +18.1% | |
| WCH.DE | Wacker Chemie | Si | Refiner / processor | DE | $5.1B | +37.2% | +36.2% | |
| AXTI | AXT Inc | InGaGe | Refiner / processor | US | $4.3B | +1539% | +447% | |
| VNP.TO FPLSF | 5N Plus | GeTeBi | Refiner / processor | CA | $2.1B | +84.4% | +77.1% | |
| GSM | Ferroglobe | SiMn | Refiner / processor | GB | $817M | -13.9% | -8.1% |
Not investment advice. Critical-Minerals.si is an independent research site. Baskets and model allocations are illustrative frameworks for exploring exposure, not recommendations to buy or sell any security. Mining and commodity equities are volatile, and many names listed here are small, foreign-listed or pre-revenue. Do your own research and consider a licensed adviser. Market data as of the date shown; prices change constantly.