Australia’s Lynas Rare Earths (LYC.AX) announced on Friday that it intended to temporarily halt all activities in Malaysia, except a mixed rare earth carbonate processing unit, in the December quarter. Only small amounts of raw material will be processed during the interim suspension.
The miner’s shares fell 2.7% in mid-trade, reaching a low of A$6.24 and closing 1.9% down. This was the stock’s lowest level since May 3.
The government of Malaysia has expressed worries about the radiation levels from cracking and leaching over the past few years, and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has warned of a policy to limit the export of rare earth raw materials. This has caused Lynas to suffer.
It would enhance Lynas Malaysia’s downstream operations to boost annual neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) output to roughly 10,500 metric tons.
If the company’s Malaysian operating license is amended to permit the continuous import and processing of lanthanide concentrate, it claims this improvement will be necessary.
The firm anticipates decreased NdPr production rates at Lynas Malaysia during the March quarter due to the upgrade, with maximum production rates of about 300 metric tons per month (tpm) increasing to 750 tpm in the June quarter.
Key employees from the Malaysian cracking and leaching plant will be sent to help with the startup process of its rare-earths processing facility in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, during the brief downtime, which begins in mid-November to finish upgrading works.
The plea for a stay to let Lynas continue functioning normally in Malaysia while administrative and judicial appeals are considered and determined has been scheduled for hearing in November, according to Lynas, whose operating license in Malaysia had been renewed until January 2024.
The world’s largest non-Chinese producer of rare earths reported a first-quarter sales revenue decline of 21.8% to A$128.1 million ($81.04 million). In Barrenjoey’s estimation, it fell short by A$159 million. NdPr output for the quarter was 1,526 metric tons of rare earth oxide (REOt), up from 1,045 metric tons a year earlier.
Comment Template