Metallium has successfully processed a range of strategic critical metal feedstocks using its proprietary Flash Joule Heating technology, delivering a mixed rare earth chloride product directly from unbeneficiated ore and achieving significant metal enrichment across industrial wastes.

The test results demonstrate the versatility of the processing platform beyond its immediate commercial priority of electronic waste. In rare earth processing, an initial unoptimised test successfully converted raw ore containing approximately 12% total rare earth oxides directly into a chloride product exceeding 83 weight percent, while achieving greater than fourfold enrichment of neodymium and praseodymium. Metallium is undertaking further optimisation and testing for the direct upgrading of raw rare earth ore using the technology.

In separate industrial waste campaigns, Metallium enriched germanium by up to 280 times from zinc smelter waste and up to 240 times from semiconductor manufacturing waste, building on previous testing announced in February 2025 that achieved approximately 80% germanium recovery from semiconductor refining waste. In platinum group metals, a single treatment cycle recovered platinum, palladium and rhodium from spent automotive catalytic converters into a product exceeding 60% purity, demonstrating a potential 75% reduction in processing time compared with conventional multi-stage recycling. Additionally, testing on red mud removed approximately 99% of iron and 94% of silicon while retaining about 95% of aluminium and concentrating gallium into a separate stream.

“Electronic waste remains our immediate commercial priority and pathway to first commercial operations. However, one of the most important outcomes from our broader development program has been demonstrating that Flash Joule Heating is not limited to a single commodity or feedstock. The results across rare earths, germanium, platinum group metals and red mud demonstrate the versatility of the platform and, importantly, its potential to solve very different processing challenges across multiple critical metal supply chains.”

“Alongside our owned processing operations, we see significant potential for capital-light technology licensing and other commercial models where our technology can be deployed into existing industrial and mineral processing operations. This opportunity is becoming increasingly relevant as the United States accelerates investment into near-term domestic supply of critical and defence metals.”

— Michael Walshe, Managing Director & CEO

The technical outcomes support a complementary commercialisation strategy encompassing both owned operations and technology licensing, building on the company's binding technology collaboration agreement with Ucore Rare Metals to integrate Flash Joule Heating with Ucore's RapidSX technology for rare earth element separation.

Read the full announcement: REE, Germanium & PGM Results Expand Commercial Pipeline