Lynas Rare Earths recently upgraded its Mt Weld mineral resource and ore reserve, supporting a 20-plus year mine life and a targeted production capacity of 12,000 tonnes per annum of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) finished product.
The upgraded mineral resource and ore reserve, which came in August 2024, followed a multi-year exploration program that comprised 84,000m of drilling.
Lynas also used its half-year report to celebrate an increase in NdPr production, sales and revenue for the first half of the 2024–25 financial year.
The company reported an eight per cent revenue increase compared to the prior corresponding period, for a total of $254.3 million.
“This was achieved despite the average China domestic price of NdPr (value added tax excluded) decreasing from $US56/kg in December 2023 to $US49/kg in December 2024,” Lynas managing director and chief executive officer Amanda Lacaze said.
“NdPr family sales volumes increased by 23 per cent during the period.”
With Mt Weld, Kalgoorlie and Malaysia rare earths facilities coming online, Lynas saw a slight increase in the unit cost of production while maintaining a cash closing balance of $308.3 million.
Lynas invested $267 million into its major projects, including the commissioning of stage one of the Mt Weld expansion project and ramping up production at the Kalgoorlie processing facility.
“We made significant progress on our major projects which together will deliver increased capacity, efficiency and sustainability, ensuring Lynas is well placed to benefit from improvements in market price,” Lacaze said.
“Significant milestones were also achieved at Lynas Malaysia, including commissioning and operating the new MREC (mixed rare earth carbonate) receival facility, operating the new SX (solvent extraction) flowsheet and installing new equipment in product finishing.
“Substantial progress was made on installation of the new Dy (dysprosium) and Tb (terbium) separation circuit, with commissioning and ramp up expected in mid-2025.”
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