Lynas coy on deadline for commissioning of troubled Kalgoorlie plant

The pressure has eased on Lynas to get its Kalgoorlie cracking and leaching plant up and running – but the company still can’t put a deadline on commercial operations.

The surge of interest in new rare earths projects hasn’t translated into commercial requests to use Lynas Rare Earths’ new plant in Western Australia, according to managing director Amanda Lacaze, with the company receiving no formal approaches for a deal over other rare earth deposits.

Speaking at the Lynas annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, Ms Lacaze said the company remained very happy to consider toll treating ore from other companies when its Kalgoorlie cracking and leaching plant is finally commissioned, but that early-stage discussions are yet to go any further.

“We can’t process anything that’s just pretend. However, we are very happy to receive material when it is available,” she said.

“So we have been very clear with some of the firms that say they’ve got this material that we would be prepared to enter into an offtake agreement and process their material. We are yet to receive any.”

Iluka Resources is also planning a rare earth refinery in WA, and has already struck a deal with Northern Minerals to process its heavy rare earth ore. But Ms Lacaze said she believed the emergence of other non-Chinese rare earth producers would be a positive step for the industry as a whole.

“A critical mass is really important. I think that we have had, for over 30 years, a market where the normal rules of supply and demand have not been operating,” she said.

“We do need an industry outside of China, not just a single company, right? Because that is the only thing which is going to change those dynamics in the market – and long term that will be good for our business.”

Lynas Rare Earths chief executive Amanda Lacaze. Picture: John Feder

Lynas is planning expansions to its overall capacity over the next year, including its deal for funding with the US government to build a plant to produce light rare earth products in the country.

In addition, Lynas is planning to expand the capacity of its Malaysian refinery – to take its nameplate capacity to 10,500 tonnes a year of neodymium and praseodymium oxides by the middle of 2024, along with an expansion of its Mt Weld mine in WA.

Despite questioning from shareholders, Ms Lacaze would not put an estimate on the time it would take the Kalgoorlie plant to finish commissioning, there was still “a little bit of uncertainty” on when it would reach commercial production, or nameplate capacity.

The immediate pressure for Lynas to commission the plant receded last month, when the Malaysian government backed down from plans to refuse permission to keep using its Malaysian cracking and leaching plant after January 1, which had threatened to force curtailments of rare earth oxide production at Lynas’ refinery in the country.

Ms Lacaze told shareholders the company was awaiting sign-off from regulators over its gas treatment plant – a major cause of recent delays.

“We are progressively moving through commissioning of all of the other stages, most of which are fully commissioned now. We have all of our raw materials on site, we’re just awaiting a final sign off from the gas inspector,” she said.

Lynas shares closed up 2c to $6.62 on Wednesday.

Originally published as Lynas coy on deadline for commissioning of troubled Kalgoorlie plant