Australia’s Lynas to shut down rare earths operations in Malaysia

During the stoppage, key personnel from the Malaysian plant will be deployed to assist with the start-up process of its rare-earths processing facility in Western Australia

The radiation levels from cracking and leaching have long been a source of tension between the company and the Malaysian government

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A worker walks inside the compound of the Lynas plant in Pahang, Malaysia. Photo: Reuters

Published: 2:15pm, 20 Oct 2023Updated: 3:30pm, 20 Oct 2023

Australia’s Lynas Rare Earths said on Friday it planned to shut all operations in Malaysia except a mixed rare earth carbonate processing plant in the December quarter, with minimal volumes of the raw material processed during the shutdown.

Shares of the miner closed 1.9 per cent lower, after falling as much as 2.7 per cent to A$6.24 (US$3.94) mid-trade.

Lynas’ Malaysian operations have been a sore point for the company, with the country’s government raising concerns about the radiation levels from cracking and leaching for the last couple of years and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim warning of a policy to ban exports of rare earth raw materials.

It will implement an upgrade to its downstream operations at Lynas Malaysia to increase production of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) to about 10,500 tonnes per annum.

This upgrade will be essential if the company’s Malaysian operating licence, which has a condition that bars the miner from importing and processing rare earth raw materials from January 2024, is updated to allow the continued import and processing of Lanthanide concentrate, it said.

During the shutdown, which starts in mid-November to complete upgrading works, key personnel from the Malaysian cracking and leaching plant will be deployed to assist with the start-up process of its rare-earths processing facility in Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.