Metallium ramps up Texas facility

Metallium Ltd., an Australian company that has created a Houston-based subsidiary called Flash Metals USA Inc. to recover rare earth elements (REEs) from printed circuit board (PCB) scrap, says it has completed a “chlorine flash,” a formal start of the commissioning of the Flash Metals facility in Chambers County, Texas.

“This represents a significant milestone for Metallium,” the company's Managing Director and CEO Michael Walshe says. “We had said we intended to formally commission the plant in the fourth quarter of 2025, and we have met this deadline.”

Since Metallium acquired the site east of Houston in Chambers County earlier in 2025, the campus has undergone civil and concrete works, new building construction and the installation of processing and environmental infrastructure.

The company says negotiations are underway for several long-term PCB feedstock supply agreements. Last October, Metallium indicated Swiss mining and commodity trading company Glencore PLC could be one such supplier.

The completion of the first chlorine flash using the company’s flash joule heating (FJH) technology has taken place in parallel with ongoing construction work to support future expansion. FJH technology is capable of extracting of REEs such as gallium and germanium and metals including antimony and gold from feedstocks such as refinery scrap and electronic scrap, according to the firm.

Metallium has a demonstration line operational in Chambers County, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality granted it a permit-by-rule for the site last December.

The firm says it is starting with PCB feedstock in a process focused on the recovery of gold, copper, silver and tin from the end-of-life circuit boards, and that advanced planning is underway for a future gallium/germanium process line, subject to securing feedstock supply.