Metallium Fires Up Texas Plant, Begins E-Waste Metals Recovery

HOUSTON, TX – December 29, 2025 – By George Millen

Australian technology firm Metallium Limited has officially begun commissioning its first U.S. commercial plant in Gator Point, Texas, a major move aimed at establishing a domestic supply chain for critical metals recovered from electronic waste. The company announced it successfully completed its first “chlorine flash,” a key step in activating its proprietary Flash Joule Heating (FJH) technology at the new Texas Technology Campus.

The event marks a significant operational milestone for the company, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: MTM). "This represents a significant milestone for Metallium," said Michael Walshe, Managing Director and CEO of Metallium. Walshe confirmed that the company has met its stated goal of beginning formal commissioning in the final quarter of 2025, a deadline set after acquiring the site earlier in the year.

Since taking over the Gator Point location, Metallium has overseen a rapid and substantial transformation, undertaking major civil and concrete works, erecting new buildings, and installing the complex process and environmental infrastructure required to support its innovative technology. The successful test not only validates the FJH process at a commercial scale but also significantly de-risks the company’s broader strategy for a U.S.-based critical-metals recovery platform.

A Multi-Faceted Technology Campus

The commissioning process extends beyond the initial chlorine flash and encompasses the entire campus ecosystem. Work is actively underway to bring all interconnected systems online, including core utilities and electrical grids, sophisticated feedstock preparation and handling circuits, and crucial environmental control systems such as the facility's gas-scrubbing units. The integration of advanced process controls and safety systems is also a key focus, ensuring the plant operates efficiently and safely.

In a strategic move to support parallel development, Metallium has made a demonstration line fully operational. This dedicated line serves multiple purposes: it will be used for ongoing feedstock qualification, allowing the company to test and approve various sources of e-waste. It also functions as a platform for process optimization, customer and partner testing programs, and a dedicated hub for research and development. This allows the company to innovate and scale up its technology alongside the commissioning of the wider facility, creating a dynamic environment for continuous improvement.

A critical step enabling these activities was securing a key environmental permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The Permit-by-Rule (PBR) was approved on December 5, 2025, representing a major regulatory milestone that provides the necessary clearance for commissioning and future operations to proceed.

The Strategic Ramp-Up to Stage 1

Metallium is pursuing a carefully managed, staged ramp-up strategy designed to methodically scale its operations. The initial phase, known as Stage 1, is focused on processing high-grade electronic waste, specifically printed circuit boards (PCBs) found in countless consumer and industrial electronics. The target nameplate capacity for Stage 1 is 8,000 tonnes per annum of inbound PCB feedstock.

The company is targeting the third quarter of 2026 to reach this Stage 1 throughput, which will be achieved through a process of progressive commissioning and modular expansion. This phased approach allows the company to refine its operations and manage growth effectively as it moves toward full-scale production.

The initial operational focus for Stage 1 will be on the recovery of high-value precious and base metals from the PCBs, including gold, copper, silver, and tin. These materials are abundant in electronic waste and represent a significant revenue opportunity, providing a strong economic foundation for the facility's operations.

Securing the Supply Chain and Eyeing Future Metals

Beyond technology and infrastructure, a stable supply of raw materials is paramount. Metallium has been actively working to secure its feedstock pipeline, announcing that it is in advanced negotiations for several long-term supply agreements for PCBs. According to the company, the final documentation for these critical agreements is at an advanced stage, signaling confidence in its ability to source the necessary materials for its Stage 1 targets.

Looking further ahead, the company is already in the advanced planning stages for a future process line dedicated to recovering gallium and germanium. These two elements are considered critical minerals by the U.S. government and are essential components in semiconductors, fiber optics, and other advanced technologies. This expansion is contingent on securing a reliable feedstock supply rich in these specific metals, but it highlights Metallium’s ambition to address a wider range of strategic materials.

The Texas Technology Campus itself is designed to support this vision, enabling parallel scale-up, customer testing, and commercial deployment of new processes without disrupting core operations.

A Low-Carbon Vision for a Circular Economy

Metallium’s efforts in Texas are the first commercial embodiment of its broader corporate mission: to pioneer a low-carbon, high-efficiency method for recovering critical and precious metals. The company’s patented Flash Joule Heating technology is a key enabler of this vision. The process is designed to extract a wide array of high-value materials from diverse feedstocks, including not only e-waste but also mineral concentrates, refinery scrap, and monazite ore.

This versatility positions the FJH technology as a potential solution for recovering a host of strategic materials, such as antimony, rare earth elements, and gold, from sources that are often difficult or environmentally costly to process using traditional methods. The establishment of the Texas site, managed by its wholly-owned subsidiary Flash Metals USA Inc., represents the company's first concrete step toward near-term production, revenue generation, and the commercial validation of its low-carbon approach to building a more resilient and circular supply chain for the world’s most critical materials.