From acquisition offers to new projects, there’s a lot on the go for Lynas Rare Earths. Speaking at the Diggers ‘n’ Dealers Mining Forum in WA this week, Lynas chief executive officer Amanda Lacaze gave some insights into what’s been happening at the company.
Lacaze spoke about a US$258 million (A$394 million) pledge by the US Department of Defence (DoD) for a heavy rare earths (HRE) project in Texas. The company recently acquired a site for its Texas-based processing facility, which it expects to produce between 2500 and 3000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of HRE, and 5000tpa of light rare earths.
The backing marks the DoD’s first investment in large-scale rare earths production since the Manhattan Project, which developed the atomic bomb.
Rare earths are used broadly in the defence industry in technologies such as jet engines, missile guidance systems, sonar, and communications.
When the partnership was first announced in early August, Lynas’ shares jumped 6 per cent.
Lacaze also touched on Lynas’ new $575 million processing facility in Kalgoorlie, where major construction activities have finalised, and full plant commissioning has commenced.
The plant was built to assume the cracking and leaching component of the company’s rare earths operations, after the Malaysian Government announced a ban on the practice earlier this year.
The intermediate product will be shipped from Kalgoorlie to Malaysia for further processing.
Update – this article has been edited for accuracy. Lynas Rare Earths has not received any approaches from companies looking to buy Lynas.