Malaysian government gives Lynas Rare Earths green light on refinery
Lynas Rare Earths has won a reprieve from Malaysia to operate its flagship refinery which produces key ingredients for wind turbines, electronics, and military applications.
After a long-running battle, the Malaysian government on Tuesday overturned its ban on Lynas importing and processing a crucial substance which generates low-level radioactive residue at its refinery in Kuantan, Pahang. Lynas shares rallied more than 12 per cent to $6.82.
“Lynas Malaysia has been issued with a variation to its operating licence which allows the continued importation and processing of lanthanide concentrate from Lynas’ Mt Weld mine in Western Australia at the Lynas Malaysia facility,” Lynas said on Tuesday.
Amanda Lacaze, chief executive of Lynas. Louie Douvis
Lynas is the biggest supplier of rare earths outside of China, which has at least 85 per cent of the world’s capacity to process rare earth ores.
Malaysia’s decision comes during Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s visit to Washington, where he is expected to ink further partnerships with the US to support critical minerals development without China.
The ASX-listed miner, which has plans to build a refinery in Texas for the US Department of Defence, has gained a heightened profile from the reorientation of the green metals supply chain.
The US and China are engaged in a tit-for-tat trade war that spans semiconductors to raw materials. Beijing on Friday announced export controls on graphite, restricting supply of one of the key battery minerals, and earlier this year placed restrictions on gallium and germanium which are crucial to the semiconductor, EV and weapons industries.
Beijing’s move to block graphite exports from December 1 comes after the US widened curbs on Chinese
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