Wanted: Rare metal suppliers (in Europe)

[Koen1]

Does anyone know any (good and reliable) suppliers of
rare metals that is either based in or ships to Europe?

I'm looking for Germanium and elements in that vacinity,
such as Gallium and Indium, and possibly also things like
Rubidium, Cesium, Francium, Strontium, Barium, Yttrium...
But mostly Germanium, Gallium, Indium, that region.

The thing is, elements surrounding Ge, Ga, In in the
periodic table are generally very common elements,
that are easy and relatively cheap to get: Aluminium,
Silicium, Phosphorus, Arsenic, Tin, Cadmium, Zinc...
All very common and cheap.
But then there's that little group of Ga, Ge and In that
is rare and very expensive, and also not easy to buy
as a private person (instead of a company that wants to
order a containerload for industrial purposes).

I am looking for these elements in the form of powder
or very small shot. Alloys are also an option.

Anyone for a Germanium supplier?
Anyone?
Please?

[AhuraMazda]

Try this in Google:
"scientific chemical supplier"

[Koen1]

I already have of course.
The problem is that you tend to end up in something like
www.kellysearch.com/.co.uk/.de/.nl/etc and then when you
finally find a supplier that actually supplies Germanium for
example they nearly always turn out not to sell to private persons
but only to registered companies, they only sell large quantities,
they sell it only in allow forms that are not practical for experimenting
(a big block of material that only melts at 900 degrees is less practical
than some powder or shot of the same material as that at least can be
sintered or otherwise melted by an experimentor in the home lab),
or they are fronts for some asian export company.

I have found one or two that are willing to negotiate with private
persons, but that is just not going anywhere... I've been trying to
order Ge powder or Ge/Ga alloy shot for over three weeks now
and still haven't gotten a clear price quote on a specific amount
of alloy shot.

And so I am looking for companies that don't act like I'm trying
to buy a fesh rhino horn when I contact them about some germanium.

I think it's weird: I can buy silver and gold in just about any city,
but some germanium is nowhere to be found... I thought the precious
metals like gold were supposed to be so rare? They're everywhere...
Yet "common" semiconductors are rare... Strange, isn't it?

Anyways, other suggestions for companies, besides the obvious google suggstion?

[ramset]

KOEN USA suppliers ?  Fisher scientific   VWR   of course Edmund Scientific  One of my partners has a relative thats a chemical engineer  I will also look into his suggestions  if you come across any suppliers in USA  I will call them for you and if it is legal ship samples to you [in quality control for approval]  also have another scientist looking locally  Chet

[Groundloop]

@Koen1,

Try this firm.

http://www.advent-rm.com/setcountry1.asp

Groundloop.