Lynas Corp. may double its capacity to process rare earths next year, provided that the Australian company secures funding shortly, Chief Operating Officer Eric Noyrez said.
“Our separation unit being built in Malaysia will be ready in the third quarter,” Noyrez said at a parliamentary hearing in Paris today. “Provided that we close the financing in a few days, this site will be doubled a year after.”
Rare earths are 17 chemically similar elements used by companies such as Toyota Motor Corp., Apple Inc. and Raytheon Co. They include neodymium, cerium and lanthanum used in sonar systems, flat-screen TVs and computers.
Lynas, based in Sydney, is set to become the first new source of rare earths outside China in at least two decades with the start up this year of the A$535 million ($540 million) Mt. Weld project in Australia. Ore production will begin this month at the mine, which Lynas says has the world’s richest deposit of rare earths.
China will start importing rare earths from 2014 as demand grows, Noyrez said. The country controls more than 95 percent of the world’s rare earths.