Lynas, the world’s largest producer of rare earths outside China, has reported power supply issues at its Kalgoorlie site (PDF). The Australian company processes ore concentrate from the Mt. Weld mine at this facility. The plant’s power supply is currently being gradually switched from diesel generators to a connection to the local electricity grid.
During this transition, the site has experienced repeated power interruptions throughout the year. Recently, these outages have become so frequent that production of mixed rare earth carbonate has been significantly affected. As a result, there is not enough of this intermediate product available for further processing at the company’s refinery in Malaysia. The refinery is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance, meaning the shortfall cannot be offset by increasing production there.
According to Lynas, the missing material represents roughly one month’s worth of production. The company is now exploring the rapid deployment of an independent, off-grid power supply. If successful, production losses could potentially be recovered later in the fiscal year.
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