New facility to meet rising demand for oxides sourced outside China
Australian rare earths producer Lynas Rare Earths has announced plans (PDF) to establish a new heavy rare earth separation facility in Malaysia. The new plant will complement Lynas’ existing Malaysian operations, which currently produce light rare earth elements, as well as dysprosium and terbium oxides, key precursors for the manufacture of high-performance permanent magnets.
According to Lynas, the facility will have the capacity to process up to 5,000 tons of feedstock per year, sourced from its Mt Weld deposit in Western Australia and other potential feed sources under development. It will produce separated samarium, gadolinium, yttrium, and lutetium, in addition to dysprosium and terbium.
Despite the large feedstock capacity, the yields of terbium and dysprosium will remain low, around 1% terbium and 5% dysprosium of the total processed material, highlighting the challenge of scaling up production of these elements. Currently, China accounts for over 90% of global dysprosium and terbium separation capacity, giving it a near monopoly.
Lynas noted that the new facility could later be expanded to produce additional heavy rare earth products, including europium, holmium, ytterbium, and erbium, subject to offtake agreements. Earlier this month, China expanded its export control list to include these four elements, as well as thulium, bringing the total number of rare earth elements requiring export licenses to 12 out of 17.
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