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Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on MINING.com
We Recycle Solar will build the US’ first end-to-end critical materials recovery facility for retired solar panels on a 10-acre campus outside Dallas, targeting Q3 2027 start-up. The Arizona-based firm says the commercial-scale plant will process one panel per minute and recover up to 96% of contained silver, copper, silicon, aluminium and glass through a proprietary extraction process that avoids any offshore smelting. WRS plans a further $100 million investment in four additional US facilities within four years, aiming to capture value from an $80 billion projected 2050 solar-panel waste stream.
With China estimated to control 60–70% of global refined silver supply, a high‑recovery US facility for silver and copper from solar panels in Texas gives downstream manufacturers a modest hedge against primary supply concentration in Asia.
The projected $80 billion in recyclable materials locked in US end‑of‑life solar panels by 2050 suggests that WRS‑type recovery plants could evolve into a parallel ‘urban mine’ segment in our Materials coverage, comparable in strategic weight to mid‑tier primary silver and copper projects.
Given that an estimated 90% of America’s old solar panels currently go to landfill or offshore processors, a domestic plant operating at Q3 2027 and planning four more sites within four years is likely to influence future US permitting and waste‑classification debates around PV modules and other e‑waste streams.
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Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
Texas startup Hertha Metals has raised $133.65 million in Series A funding, including $65 million from the US government’s IBAS programme, to build its Hertha Chalyx plant targeting 10,000 tonnes per year of steel-grade and magnet-grade high-purity iron. The facility will deploy the FLEXHERS process—a single continuous hydrogen/natural-gas reduction reactor coupled with electric arc furnace technology—claiming 25% lower production costs than blast furnaces and emissions cuts of 50% (natural gas) to up to 98% (hydrogen). Chalyx, alongside the existing 360 t/y Pi100 pilot in Conroe, aims to create a fully domestic feedstock source for NdFeB magnet and defence manufacturers.
Aston University is partnering with Jesmonite Ltd under an Innovate UK knowledge transfer partnership to redevelop Jesmonite’s low‑carbon acrylic, resin-based composites with added biochar as potential cement alternatives for façades and surface applications. Researchers from Aston’s Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute and Department of Civil Engineering will characterise the materials at molecular level and test mechanical and durability performance while targeting further reductions in embodied carbon. The work aims to move Jesmonite’s currently niche, film-set and design products into mainstream construction specifications, offering designers non‑cementitious façade and cladding options.
Global technology-sector gold demand stayed flat at 323 tonnes in 2025 despite surging AI chip sales, as miniaturisation and design changes to reduce or remove gold offset new AI-related uses, the World Gold Council reports. Gold traded around US$4,270/oz on Friday, roughly 14% higher year-on-year, keeping cost pressure on manufacturers that are redesigning connectors and contacts. Co-packaged optics (CPO) for hyperscale AI data centres, backed by Nvidia and other chipmakers, could become a meaningful new source of demand because lasers and high‑frequency electrodes in CPO packages still rely on gold’s durability and conductivity.
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