Metallium’s (ASX:MTM) wholly owned subsidiary Flash Metals has been granted approval to lease two electric waste (e-waste) processing sites in the US, as the company pushes the deployment of the Flash Joule Heating metal recovery systems.
One site is located within Mid-City Scrap’s metals campus in Westport, Massachusetts, and the other at Recycle Management’s multi-modal recycling facility in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
The leasing agreement allows Flash Metals to access a 12-month exclusive right of first refusal to execute a long-term sublease, which the company has already paid a non-refundable option fee of US$10,000 ($15,543) per site.
The sublease agreement offers the company a 15-year term with two additional 5-year renewals on demand with a market aligned base rent escalating a fixed 3% annually.
Metallium will have access to complete a full due diligence of environmental, engineering, and utility reviews during the option period.
Hosts will assist the company to both identify and aggregate e-waste streams rich in printed circuit boards, with further discussions currently underway to provide secure feedstock flows with potential e-waste supply arrangements.
Metallium will issue 100,000 shares to each site agent, to be held in escrow for 12 months.
Located in Harrisonburg, the second facility is strategically positioned near the Northern Virginia data centre corridor, which Metallium intends to use the proximity to access its e-waste streams.
Both state and federal governments have approved full permitting of the two facilities, allowing Metallium to tap into the acceleratory nature of these facilities.
Metallium will be able to jump ahead of the multi-year regulatory commitments that often delay the turnaround of US-based recycling projects.
CEO Micahel Walshe says that while the company intends to keep Texas movements as its main priority, Metallium will illustrate the potential of that model across pre-permitted, infrastructure-ready sites that have a minimal upfront cost.
“They also highlight the value of our long-standing industry relationships, which provide access to high-quality opportunities that might not otherwise be available,” Walshe says.
“This growing multi-state footprint positions Metallium to scale quickly as partnerships and feedstock volumes develop, while supporting our engagement with US government agencies and pursuit of non-dilutive funding.”
Metallium is focused on mineral exploration and metal recovery technology development with assets in Australia, Canada, and the US.
Write to Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Images: Metallium
