Highlights:
MTM Chairman, Mr John Hannaford said: “Signing of the license agreement with Rice University for exclusive worldwide rights to develop and utilise the FJH technology is a significant milestone for the Company. It provides the foundation for MTM to scale the commercialisation of a world-leading REE extraction process. The licence also provides for the continued development of the existing flash joule heating technology for use 2 in additional applications. The Company can now progress several non-dilutive funding opportunities for the FJH technology, including potential government grants and collaborations with commercial partners who could benefit from integrating the technology in their existing processes. Our priority is to identify the highest-value applications to generate commercial opportunities, including using the technology on our own mineral assets in Australia and Canada.”
Flash Metals USA President, Mr Steve Ragiel said: “We are very pleased to have worked with Dr James Tour and the Rice University team to finalise this global licence agreement as there is real need for this type of innovation. The mining sector is looking for ways to optimise resource recovery rates, reduce the use of chemical and waste and improve its ESG credentials in tangible ways – and FJH has the potential to addresses all these areas based on testing at bench scale. FJH can dramatically increase the leaching recovery of metals from waste materials that are otherwise very difficult to treat while using lower volumes of acid than traditional methods1 . Applications will include REE and other critical metals and metallic compounds from industrial waste such as coal fly ash and bauxite residue, ores, electric waste (e-Waste) and end-of-life batteries. MTM is commencing commercialisation of the FJH technology with a focus on defining the best opportunities for scaling the technology through sub-licensing and technology transfer agreements.”
The Opportunity for FJH
Successful laboratory and prototype testing (refer MTM ASX release 6 May 2024) of the FJH technology has provided MTM confidence that, when commercialised, the FJH technology could disrupt the existing extraction processes for REE’s and other minerals with the potential for higher recovery rates, lower costs and more efficient flow sheets for metal extraction. The collaboration between Rice and MTM in this field will be ongoing and enhancements in the technology by Rice are likely to flow through to MTM which will add to the capabilities of the processes that are being commercialised.
Flash Joule Heating (FJH) technology offers several commercial opportunities in the extraction of metals due to its potential efficiency, cost-effectiveness and environmental benefits. MTM will pursue a range of work streams to:
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