Posted on 11 Nov 2024
Lynas Rare Earths on Friday officially opened its rare earths processing facility in Kalgoorlie, Australia – a first for the country, Kallanish learns.
The AUD 800 million ($530.1m) facility was opened in under two and a half years after securing full construction approvals, the company says. It will process concentrate from Lynas’ Mt Weld mine into mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC).
The material will serve as feedstock to Lynas’ separation plant in Malaysia, paving the way for the production of 9,000 tonnes/year of neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) finished products. These rare earth oxides are used to produce magnets for electric motors.
In future, Lynas intends to process material from the Kalgoorlie facility in its planned US plant.
Lynas ceo and managing director Amanda Lacaze says the “ambitious” project has established downstream rare earths processing in Australia for the first time. “It was a foundational project for our Lynas 2025 growth strategy and a significant financial investment for Lynas and our shareholders.”
The Australian government says the facility will be “globally significant” as the largest rare earths processing facility outside of China. It is expected to create 115 direct jobs.
Currently, the global rare earths processing capacity is highly concentrated, with China accounting for 92% of the global refined output in 2023, according to the International Energy Agency. Only a few ex-China large-scale refining facilities exist, including Lynas’ facilities, a plant operated by Neo Performance Materials in Estonia, and the Vietnam Rare Earth JSC plant in Vietnam.
Rebecca Tomkinson, the ceo of the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia (CME) says the Lynas plant will play a “vital role [in] building supply chain resilience for both low-emission energy and defence applications.”
“Western Australia possesses some of the richest rare earth deposits on the planet,” Tomkinson adds in a separate statement. “Bringing those minerals to market will require a continued focus on streamlining and accelerating project assessments, boosting the supply of turnkey industrial land and ensuring access to reliable, cost-competitive and low-emission energy.”
Source:Kallanish
