- Awarded new contract with US Department of War
- Up to US$1M in funding to support pilot-scale development
- Aiming to scale-up flash joule heating (FJH) technology
- Follows phase one success with all technical milestones achieved
Metallium (ASX: MTM) has welcomed the award of a US$1 million phase two contract with the US Department of War (DoW) to support pilot-scale development of unique flash joule heating (FJH) technology.
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The award of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to Metallium’s US-based affiliate, Flash Metals Texas Inc, follows the successful completion of phase one which demonstrated the ability of the proprietary electrothermal chlorination technology to recover gallium from semiconductor and electronic waste streams.
Metallium’s president of US operations, Steve Ragiel, said all technical milestones were achieved or exceeded in phase one and the program was delivered in approximately half the standard timeframe.
“The phase two program will expand this work to focus on the extraction of both gallium and germanium from electronic waste streams, with activities centred at the company’s Texas Technology Campus,” he said.
“The program will advance the technology toward pilot-scale deployment, including optimisation of operating conditions, improvement of recovery efficiency, and demonstration of repeatable, industrially relevant operation.”
Mr Ragiel said the SBIR process is a highly competitive initiative encouraging smaller companies like Flash Metals to compete and to demonstrate the team’s technology’s capacities.
“This new contract sets us apart and validates our approach and our commitment to supporting national security priorities.”
The 12-month project will culminate with process readiness that is appropriate beyond pilot demonstration, placing Flash Metals Texas to potentially work on a phase three award, and on broader commercial deployment.
The timeline also meets and integrates into Metallium’s and Flash Metals Texas’s operationalisation of the Gator Point Technology Campus in Chambers County, Texas.
Gallium and germanium are designated by the US government as critical materials essential for defence systems, semiconductors and advanced communications technologies.
MTM is down 0.93% to 53.5¢. Mkt cap $397.8M
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