Metallium Ltd (ASX: MTM) has this week announced major progress at its Gator Point Technology Campus, where it is proving up its technology which extracts critical minerals from e-waste.
The update has caught the eye of the analyst team at Canaccord Genuity, which has a very bullish share price target on Metallium shares, which we'll get to later.
Firstly, let's look at what Metallium announced.
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Technology advancing well
The company is in the process of commercialising its proprietary "flash joule heating" technology, which allows it to extract the metals from e-waste such as printed circuit boards (PCBs).
Metallium said it had made good progress at Gator Point, and went on to say:
Since acquiring the site less than twelve months ago, Metallium has undertaken substantial site rehabilitation, infrastructure upgrades and installation of processing equipment, transforming the facility into the company's primary U.S. technology demonstration and early commercial processing hub. Commissioning activities are now progressing across the integrated flowsheet as the Company advances the industrial scale-up of Flash Joule Heating technology. The development of Gator Point positions Metallium within the emerging U.S. domestic supply chain for critical metals, where there is currently limited capability to process complex electronic waste streams into refined metals. This represents a significant opportunity for new industrial processing platforms capable of recovering critical metals from PCBs.
Managing Director Michal Walshe said the next major milestone for the company would be operating three FJH reactors in parallel.
He added:
This milestone will validate the scalability of the technology and represents an important step toward our Stage-1 commercial configuration targeting approximately 8,000 tonnes of PCB feedstock per year.
The company said PCBs represented one of the highest grade "urban metal" resources available, containing significant concentrations of precious and base metals, typically at grades better than mined ores.
Metallium is targeting feedstocks that contain several thousand dollars per tonne of metal, or a gold equivalent of an ore containing 200 grams per tonne.
Once stage one is operating, the company is aiming to double capacity to 16,000 tonnes per annum.
Shares looking cheap
The team at Canaccord Genuity said the company's wet commissioning of the first FJH line was a major de-risking of the technology, and noted that Metallium is fully funded through to the end of stage two works.
They estimate that once stage two is operating, scheduled for late 2027, Metallium could produce 90,000 ounces per year of gold equivalent, generating $330 million in EBITDA.
Canaccord Genuity has a price target of $1.60 on Metallium shares, compared with just 72 cents currently.
Metallium was valued at $530.5 million at the close of trade on Wednesday.
