Metallium Secures Half of US PCB Feedstock Target Under Binding Contracts

Halfway to Feedstock Target with Binding Contracts

Metallium Limited (ASX:MTM) has secured binding supply agreements covering 4,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of printed circuit board (PCB) feedstock, representing 50% of its Stage-1 throughput target of 8,000 tpa for its US operations. This milestone builds on the company’s earlier long-term deal with Glencore Ltd for up to 2,400 tpa and includes additional contracts with other established industry players, whose identities remain confidential at their request.

By locking in half its initial feedstock requirement under contract, Metallium lays a firm foundation for stable operations and scale-up of its patented Flash Joule Heating (FJH) technology at the Texas Technology Campus. The company aims to extend contracted coverage to approximately 70%, with the remaining 30% sourced opportunistically from the spot market to preserve pricing flexibility and market responsiveness.

Strategic Feedstock Procurement Balances Risk and Opportunity

Metallium’s hybrid procurement model is designed to balance supply certainty with commercial optimisation. By contracting about 70% of its feedstock, it ensures predictable reactor utilisation during commissioning and supports extended processing campaigns across multiple PCB streams. The remaining exposure to spot market purchases allows the company to benchmark prevailing prices, maintain flexibility across feedstock grades, and optimise margins through opportunistic buying.

Managing Director Michael Walshe highlighted that securing 50% of the feedstock target is a significant milestone as Metallium transitions into sustained commissioning and early-stage operations. He emphasised the importance of a diversified supply base beyond Glencore, which not only ensures volume but also real-time visibility on pricing to optimise commercial outcomes as the company scales.

Commissioning Progress and Scale-Up Plans in Texas

With feedstock supply materially de-risked, Metallium is advancing commissioning activities at its Texas Technology Campus, including installation and testing of multiple FJH reactors operating in parallel. This multi-reactor demonstration is a critical inflection point, validating continuous operation and modular capacity expansion.

Securing increasing volumes of contracted feedstock supports predictable reactor utilisation and enables data generation necessary for multi-line scale-up. The company is also conducting upstream pre-processing and downstream recovery pathway studies to optimise the entire processing chain.

This operational momentum builds on previous infrastructure upgrades and commissioning milestones, such as those reported in the multi-reactor operation milestone and the commissioning at Texas Technology Campus announcements.

E-Waste Recycling: A Growing Strategic Imperative

Global electronic waste (e-waste) generation reached approximately 62 million tonnes in 2022, with recycling rates lagging at around 22%. This gap has created a structural supply shortage of high-value secondary metals embedded in e-waste, estimated at over US$90 billion annually. Printed circuit boards are particularly valuable, containing higher grades of gold, silver, palladium and copper than most primary ores.

Despite growing volumes driven by data centres, AI, telecoms, and electrification, the US remains reliant on offshore processing with limited domestic capacity, leading to value leakage through exports and sub-optimal recovery. Metallium’s FJH technology aims to address this critical infrastructure gap by enabling scalable domestic processing to onshore high-value metal recovery and strengthen supply chain security.

With half of its Stage-1 feedstock secured, Metallium is well positioned to capture value currently lost offshore and contribute to the US’s strategic objectives in critical metal supply chains.