RE:RE:The Big PictureGermanium is not scarce in the pure sense of the word. Germanium is plentiful as for a resouce. That said the market is limited and it is very expensive to produce to the purity levels needed to be advantageous. As such most Germanium is produced as a byproduct which limits the availability hence price. The world could produce 10 fold the current production within 5 years but the big players are not convinced it will not be replaced by alternatives.