Mining of these critical metals and minerals will take years to get up to speed - they may be able to be secured right now in already existing feedstocks through FJH.
HOUSTON, Aug. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Metallium Limited (ASX: MTM; OTCQX: MTMCF; OTCQX ADR: MTMLY) reported results from a series of tests to demonstrate application of its proprietary Flash Joule Heating (FJH) technology across multiple strategic metal feedstocks. The testing was conducted on a variety of feedstocks and delivered significant results across rare earth ores, germanium-bearing industrial wastes, as well as spent catalytic converters and red mud. These tests demonstrated the ability of FJH-based processing to selectively recover, separate and/or concentrate valuable materials from complex feedstocks.
"While the processing of electronic waste (e-Waste) remains our immediate commercial priority, this broader testing program continues to demonstrate the potential application of our FJH platform across a substantially wide range of critical metal and industrial feedstocks, which open significant additional markets for commercialization of the technology," said Michael Walshe, management director and CEO of Metallium.
He added that Metallium continues to work separately with Indium Corporation and other major semiconductor industry suppliers to progress strategic sourcing initiatives for gallium, germanium, indium and other technology metal-bearing secondary raw materials for future processing. "These initiatives are complementary to the additional commercial opportunities arising from the testing programs conducted here," he added.
Details on the testing can be found here: https://cdn-api.markitdigital.com/apiman-gateway/ASX/asx-research/1.0/file/2924-03120088-6A1338204&v=undefined.
The successful testing results included:
- Successfully converting raw, unbeneficiated REE ore containing approximately 12% TREO directly into a more than 83 wt% mixed REE chloride product, achieving more than 4x enrichment of NdPr in an initial unoptimized test.
- Successfully enriching germanium by up to 280x from zinc smelter waste, 240x from semiconductor manufacturing waste and 35x from defense-related industrial waste, demonstrating applicability across multiple strategic secondary feedstock
- Successfully produced a more than 60% purity PGM-rich product containing platinum, palladium and rhodium from spent automotive catalytic converters in a single, unoptimized treatment cycle, demonstrating potential for a materially simplified recycling pathway vs. conventional processing.
- In the area of red mud/gallium, testing removed approximately 99% of iron and 94% of silicon while retaining approximately 95% of aluminum, with gallium concentrated into a separate product stream, demonstrating the potential to recover critical metals while upgrading a major industrial waste stream.
All of the testing was initiated at the request of industry participants across defense, manufacturing and critical minerals, with commercial discussions ongoing between these participants and the company regarding potential agreements.
Metallium (https://www.metalliuminc.com) is pioneering a low-carbon, high-efficiency approach to recovering critical and precious metals from mineral concentrates and high-grade waste streams. The company's patented Flash Joule Heating (FJH) technology enables the extraction of high-value materials, including gallium, germanium, antimony, rare earth elements, and gold - from feedstocks such as refinery scrap, e-waste and monazite. The company has its first commercial site in Texas, operated by its wholly owned subsidiary Flash Metals USA.
SOURCE Metallium Ltd.
