Lynas to build rare earths plant in US: Correction

Amends paragraph 6 to clarify that Lynas is the largest non-Chinese producer of separated rare earth products and there are several other companies with smaller separation facilities operating in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

Australia-Malaysia rare earths producer Lynas Rare Earths has entered into an agreement with the US government to build a commercial light rare earths separation plant in the US.

Its wholly-owned subsidiary Lynas USA will collaborate with the US Department of Defense in an initiative sponsored by the Title III Defence Production Act programme to build the plant, which is expected to be in Texas, Lynas said.

Detailed costs are being finalised, with Department of Defense funding expected to be capped at $30mn and Lynas expected to contribute a similar amount.

The plant is expected to produce around 5,000 t/yr of rare earths products, including around 1,250 t/yr of permanent magnet metals neodymium and praseodymium. It will receive material directly from the new cracking and leaching facility that Lynas is developing at Kalgoorlie in Western Australia (WA).

Output from the plant will serve both the defense industrial base and the growing commercial market for rare earths products, including electric vehicles and green technologies in the US and global markets, Lynas said.

Lynas is the largest non-Chinese producer of separated rare earth products. The second largest is Toronto-based Neo Performance Materials, which has plants in Europe and Asia-Pacific. There are also smaller separation facilities operating in southeast Asia, India and Europe.

"While demand for rare earth materials continues to grow, Covid-19 has exposed the risks within the global supply chains of the single sourcing of critical materials," chief executive Amanda Lacaze said.

Lynas has a mining operation at Mt Weld in WA and a processing facility at Kuantan in Malaysia.

By Angus Macmillan