Abstract: Germanium is a typical dispersive and strategic metal. Coal related germanium mineral resources in China have typical resource advantages, however there are still many challenges in the supernormal enrichment and extraction of germanium. The distribution characteristics, content and occurrence of germanium in coal were described, and the typical leaching methods of germanium in coal measures were summarized, such as direct leaching of germanium from raw coal by water metallurgy and microbial leaching, and leaching of germanium from fly ash by water leaching, inorganic acid leaching and organic acid leaching. Furthermore, the enrichment and separation methods of germanium from coal leaching liquid were summarized, including solvent extraction, ion exchange resin, supported liquid membranes and ion flotation. In addition, germanium could be separated from coal by dry distillation and volatilization, alkali melting neutralization, alloy process, AlCl₃ smelting, zinc powder reduction for germanium extraction, the existing problems of germanium separation were analyzed, and the development direction was prospected.