Senior members of ASX-listed Lithium Universe’s executive team have completed a detailed site visit to assess a proposed second lithium refinery location for the company in Brownsville, Texas, in the US.

This strategic visit marks another step forward in advancing the company’s binational lithium‐refining platform across Canada and the US.

Lithium Universe aims to help close the North American “lithium conversion gap” and provide long‐term processing capacity for the rapidly expanding electric vehicle, stationary storage and critical minerals sectors.

The site visit builds directly on the company’s earlier strategic review work and complements the progress already under way at the flagship Bécancour lithium refinery project, in Québec, Canada.

The second refinery will operate in parallel with the Bécancour project, forming a continental refining network capable of delivering up to two full trains of lithium carbonate production in each jurisdiction.

While the Quebec site required cold temperature engineering considerations such as freeze protection and thermal enclosure, the US site requires modifications focused on hurricane resilience, stormwater management and extreme weather preparedness.

“With demand for battery‐grade lithium carbonate forecast to significantly outpace North American conversion capacity, Lithium Universe continues to position itself as one of the very few companies capable of deploying multiple lithium‐refining trains using a proven, repeatable ‘copy‐and‐paste’ engineering model first established through the Bécancour definitive feasibility study,” chairperson Iggy Tan explains.

He adds that the latest site assessment visit brings that strategy one step closer to execution. “The proposed US site has demonstrated all the critical characteristics we look for: land availability, logistics strength, industrial readiness and expansion capacity.”

Lithium Universe will now advance into the formal lease application phase for the site and launch a scoping study for an 18 270 t/y battery-grade lithium carbonate refinery at Brownsville.

SOLAR PANEL WASTE RECOVERY

Meanwhile, the Brownsville site also has space available for the company’s PV recycling silver extraction project.

As global demand for solar energy expands, solar panel waste is expected to reach between 60-million and 78-million tonnes by 2050, making efficient recycling solutions critical.

Lithium Universe is responding to this challenge by recovering valuable metals from end-of-life PV panels. The company acquired Macquarie University’s Microwave Joule Heating Technology and Jet Electrochemical Silver Extraction method.

The process achieves silver recovery rates of up to 95% while using 83% less acid and no chemical additives compared with conventional recycling methods.

The company aims to form a sustainable and scalable recycling platform that converts discarded solar panels into a renewable source of silver, silicon and other critical materials.