Germanium is a strategic resource for its unique physical and chemical properties; however, the unsatisfactory recovery efficiency of germanium from secondary zinc oxide is a problem for pertinent smelters, as well as an obstruction for circular economy of germanium. Certain limitations related to germanium recovery from secondary zinc oxide were recently discovered using a variety of techniques, including scanning electron microscopy, sulfuric acid and sodium acetate selective dissolution, transmission electron microscope and selected area electron diffraction, electron probe microanalysis, and essential experimental analysis. A manganese dioxide-based (one-step or stepwise) leaching process (ML) is proposed, evaluated, and compared with oxygen pressure leaching and nitrate leaching. Results indicated that wurtzite was the limiting factor for zinc leaching, and that the lost germanium was trapped in Pb-based spherical aggregate, galena, and anglesite. In an ML process conducted with manganese dioxide dosages of 7.5–10 wt% at 90 °C for 60 min, the leaching % of germanium and zinc reached 96–98%. This ML process was found to be compatible with zinc hydrometallurgy and conducive to a complete utilization of resources that enable a further reduction of the solid waste produced by zinc metallurgy.

锗因其独特的物理和化学特性而成为战略资源。然而，从二次氧化锌中回收锗的效率不令人满意，这是相关冶炼厂的一个问题，也是锗循环经济的一个障碍。最近，使用多种技术发现了与从仲氧化锌中回收锗有关的某些局限性，包括扫描电子显微镜，硫酸和乙酸钠选择性溶解，透射电子显微镜和选定区域电子衍射，电子探针显微分析以及必要的实验分析。提出，评估了基于二氧化锰的（一步或逐步）浸出工艺（ML），并将其与氧气压力浸出和硝酸盐浸出进行了比较。结果表明纤锌矿是锌浸出的限制因素，失去的锗被困在基于Pb的球形团聚体，方铅矿和角位中。在二氧化锰剂量为7.5–10 wt％，在90°C下进行60分钟的ML工艺中，锗和锌的浸出百分比达到96–98％。发现该ML工艺与锌湿法冶金相容并且有利于资源的完全利用，从而能够进一步减少锌冶金产生的固体废物。