Metallium and Ucore integrate FJH and RapidSX to establish U.S. REE feedstock-to-oxide pathway

Metallium Ltd. and Ucore Rare Metals have signed a binding collaboration to integrate Metallium’s Flash Joule Heating (FJH) upgrade platform with Ucore’s RapidSX™ rare-earth separation technology.

The integration aims to create a compatible feedstock-to-oxide refining route in the U.S., leveraging FJH to rapidly convert diverse REE-bearing materials into high-purity chlorides and RapidSX to perform downstream separation into individual rare-earth oxides. RapidSX’s chloride compatibility and government-backed scale-up at Ucore’s Strategic Metals Complex in Louisiana (supported by an $18.4 million U.S. grant) make the pairing technically complementary.

Under the agreement, each company will process feedstocks supplied by the other at existing Houston and Louisiana facilities while immediate testwork defines commercial terms. Technical work will examine bypassing conventional acid-leach circuits by producing enriched mixed rare-earth chlorides (EMRECs), selectively removing deleterious elements, and using FJH as pretreatment for high-Fe/Al feeds.

The partners will also evaluate recovery of strategic heavy REEs such as terbium from lighting waste and phosphor powders. Metallium’s Texas demonstration plant remains on track to begin e-waste processing in early 2026. The collaboration targets a resilient, sovereign U.S. refining capability to reduce reliance on concentrated global REE refining capacity.