Highlights

• Metallium plans to commission its first Flash Joule Heating processing plant in Texas by December 2025, targeting e-waste and mine tailings metal extraction.
• The company seeks to create a Western alternative to China's rare earth and critical metals refining ecosystem using innovative technology from Rice University.
• The Texas facility represents a potential breakthrough in mineral independence, processing metals without traditional acid or smelting methods.

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The Australian report that Metallium Ltd. (opens in a new tab) (ASX: MTM) will commission its first Flash Joule Heating (FJH) (opens in a new tab) processing plant in Texas by December 2025, aiming to become a cornerstone of the United States’ rare earth and critical metals refining effort. The company’s Gator Point Technology Campus in Chambers County will process e-waste, magnet scrap, and mine tailings—materials now largely refined in China.

If successful, this marks a rare Western breakthrough: a homegrown metallurgical process designed to extract rare earths, gallium, and germanium without relying on China’s industrial ecosystem.

Metallium in Focus: The New Alchemist from Down Under

Metallium (formerly MTM Critical Metals) is headquartered in Subiaco, Western Australia, with U.S. operations based in Houston, Texas, under its wholly owned subsidiary Flash Metals USA.

The company holds the global commercial rights to Flash Joule Heating, an innovation born at Rice University (opens in a new tab) that recovers metals from waste using ultra-high-temperature pulses instead of acids or smelting. Metallium acquired this technology through Flash Metals Pty Ltd., aligning academic R&D with industrial application.

The firm has raised A$50 million from institutional investors to scale the Texas plant from 8,000 to 16,000 tonnes per year and forged a strategic partnership with Ucore Rare Metals (opens in a new tab), integrating its FJH process with Ucore’s RapidSX™ separation technology (opens in a new tab) in Louisiana. Together, the two companies are attempting to create one of the first mine-to-oxide supply chains outside China.

Metallium’s leadership includes CEO Michael Walshe (opens in a new tab), Chair John Hannaford, and Flash Metals USA President Steve Ragiel. While no commercial output has yet been verified, the build-phase plant represents the most advanced non-Chinese refining project currently under development in the Western Hemisphere.

Solid Metal or Marketing Alloy?

The Texas facility is real, under construction, and backed by credible institutional funding. The FJH process has been validated in peer-reviewed Rice University studies.

However, Rare Earth Exchanges (REEx) notes that Metallium’s capacity projections and recovery efficiencies are self-reported and unverified at commercial scale. The tone of partner media pieces borders on promotional; readers should note that Stockhead classifies Metallium as a “sponsored content” advertiser.

Why It Matters

At a time when China’s new export controls have reignited fears of mineral dependency, Metallium’s emergence signals a small but significant shift in refining geography. The Texas plant may process only a fraction of China’s 270,000-tonne output, yet its symbolism is enormous: the West is finally rebuilding the midstream link it once outsourced.

If Metallium delivers on its promise, Texas could become the first node in a truly allied rare earth refining chain—a tangible step toward mineral independence.  Note that Texas is also home to US Rare Earth, another mine-to-magnet play in development.  They also bought the metal alloy maker Less Common Metals (opens in a new tab).

Source: The Australian / Stockhead, October 13, 2025

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