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Lithium Universe (ASX:LU7) has flagged that at current prices, it can extract $56 worth of silver from solar panels using its ESG-friendly and low-acid extraction tech, at the same time a relatively recent report from the ABC suggest 4M panels will need to be discarded off by EOY CY25.
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That’s an easy to understand value prop for a country that has one of the highest rates of solar penetration in the world, reflecting a solar market that some analysts even think is in oversupply.
Whether Australia has gone a bit too hard on solar panel distribution isn’t really LU7’s problem one way or the other, but it’s a big impetus for the company to continue advancing its silver recycling technology which puts it square in the race to establish Australia’s circular economy.
HotCopper users were quick to jot down back-of-the-envelope calculations assuming LU7 could get its hands on all 4M panels, coming up with figured over $200M. That remains speculative for now. Still, it was received well: LU7 jumped +20% to 1.8cps in morning trades.
Also flagged on Thursday was the company’s efforts to reduce the use of acid in the recycling process itself used for extracting silver from panels; LU7 reports it can now yield silver using 83% less acid than unoptimised trial runs before it, which the company is hopeful has promising implications for (ease of) wastewater management.
Testwork proving the reduction is possible was conducted at Macquarie University.
LU7 last traded at 1.8cps.
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Disclaimer: HotCopper had a commercial relationship with LU7 at the time this article was crafted and published.
