Lithium Universe (ASX:LU7) said trials using the proprietary jet electrochemical silver extraction recovery method have successfully produced silver of 95.95% purity within five minutes of the deposition process, according to a Thursday Australian bourse filing.

The test program was undertaken by LU7's partner, Macquarie University, employing precision laser-cutting of solar silicon cells to expose busbars and silver fingers characteristic of photovoltaic metallization.

A controlled five-volt potential was applied across the wafer and jet, dissolving silver into the nitric electrolyte as silver nitrate. Reverse electrochemical deposition recovered the dissolved silver onto a substrate.

Analysis showed that the total impurity content in the recovered silver is just 4.05% and heavy metal impurities such as lead and bismuth were exceptionally low.

Lithium Universe and the Macquarie University team will continue optimization studies to refine operating parameters and further enhance silver purity. They are also planning larger-scale pilot tests to validate the performance under continuous operating conditions.