Foundations for the Future

Lynas has a strategy of creating a reliable, fully integrated source of supply from mine through to customers, and to become the benchmark for security of supply and environmental standards in the global Rare Earths industry.

Lynas owns the richest deposit of Rare Earths in the world at Mt Weld, 35km south of Laverton in Western Australia.  A feasibility study has been completed on the Rare Earths deposit and all Australian approvals required for project development have been received.

In past years, Lynas has observed a trend in Chinese Government policy decisions which is leading to an increase in Government control of the Rare Earths industry in China and the tightening of supply due to the imposition of mining production quotas, and the reduction and restrictions on trading of the existing export quota.  These policy decisions have followed the removal of VAT rebates for exports of Rare Earths oxides and an increased enforcement of China's stringent environmental standards which resulted in the closure of non-compliant Rare Earths plants. 

Shortly after the introduction of production quotas in China the company determined it was prudent to investigate potential sites other than China that would be suitable for the company's proposed processing plant for Mt Weld ore.  The drivers for this decision were the:

• Increasing Government control of the Rare Earths industry in China, thereby increasing the project risk for our plant
• Escalating operating costs in China due to the Government policies noted above, and also inflation affecting cost of reagents, utilities and labour
• Favourable tax environments available in alternative countries
• Opportunity to reduce cost base denominated in Renminbi, and thereby benefit from a  strengthening Chinese currency

The first stage was to relocate the concentration plant from China back to Mount Weld, and the next phase was to develop an Advanced Materials Plant to process the concentrate through to the final product.

Following a detailed evaluation of several possible sites, Kuantan, in the state of Pahang, Malaysia, was chosen for its favourable investment climate, the high quality workforce, the excellent infrastructure servicing the proposed site and the readily available reagents used by the Plant.

Lynas has been granted the “strategic pioneer status” by the Malaysian Industrial Development Association (MIDA), which has a number of associated benefits including a 12 year tax free period.

Kuantan offers a highly skilled and educated labour force with experience in the chemical industry and a key benefit is also their English proficiency.

The state has a robust and first-class transport network, comprehensive communications networks and reliable supply of natural gas, electricity and water at competitive prices.  Kuantan has excellent port facilities for handling bulk liquid chemicals and containers to accommodate the transport of. Mount Weld concentrates to Gebeng in sealed containers.

Of significant advantage for the Gebeng Industrial Estate site is the fact that manufacturers of key reagents required for the process (lime, sulfuric acid, and hydrochloric acid) are already established in close proximity to the proposed plant site.

Lynas has received the environmental and municipal approvals from the Malaysian authorities and has commenced construction of the Advanced Materials Plant in the Gebeng Industrial Area in Kuantan.

Learn more about Mt Weld

Learn more about the current status of the project