Metallium lands US$1M critical metals contract
Australian-listed tech firm Metallium (ASX:MTM) announced that its American affiliate, Flash Metals Texas, has been awarded a US$1 million Phase II small business innovation research contract.
Funded by the US Department of War through the Defence Logistics Agency, the twelve-month project will focus on securing critical domestic supplies of gallium and germanium—two essential materials used extensively in advanced radar, semiconductors, and military communications.
The Phase II contract follows a highly successful Phase I trial, which wrapped up ahead of schedule in just six months.
During that initial phase, Metallium successfully demonstrated its proprietary flash joule heating electrothermal chlorination technology, proving its capacity to rapidly extract and recover gallium from electronic waste streams.
The United States is currently 100% dependent on foreign imports for its gallium supply, while China controls roughly 100% of global primary production.
Metallium’s recycling technology offers an alternative, domestic pathway to disrupt this monopoly by recovering these vital resources from electronic waste.
Work for the Phase II programme will be centred at the company’s Gator Point Technology Campus in Chambers County, Texas.
The initiative aims to scale up operations to pilot-scale deployment, optimising efficiency and process readiness.
At the time of reporting, Metallium’s share price was $0.52.