KUALA LUMPUR: Lynas, an Australian producer of rare earths, will cease all operations in Malaysia beginning next month, with the exception of its mixed rare earth carbonate processing facility.
"During the shutdown, key Malaysian C&L (cracking and leaching) personnel will be deployed to assist with the start-up process in Kalgoorlie, Australia," it said in its latest quarterly report, released today.
In April, Lynas said it had planned for either a temporary shutdown of its Malaysian operation or a period of very low production if licence conditions prohibiting the import and processing of lanthanide concentrate remain on July 1.
On May 8, Lynas' appeal to drop four licence conditions set by the Atomic Energy Licencing Board (AELB) was rejected.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang said the appeal was rejected after an appeal hearing was held on April 28 following AELB's decision.
He said he had agreed to extend the period for the plant's C&L activities until Dec 31 after taking into account the impact of the decision on the global rare earth supply chain.
The primary condition is that Lynas must relocate the C&L of lanthanide concentrate to a site outside Malaysia and only refine intermediate materials at its facility in Gebeng, Pahang, by July 1.
This led to Lynas filing two applications for judicial review of its operating licence conditions in Malaysia in July.
In the quarterly report, Lynas Malaysia also planned to implement an upgrade to downstream operations to increase neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) production capacity to approximately 10,500 tonnes per annum.
This, it said, was essential additional capacity in the event its Malaysian operating licence is updated to allow the continued import and processing of Lanthanide concentrate from Jan 1.
"If this does not occur, the capacity will still be required as Kalgoorlie ramps up to its nameplate capacity of Mixed Rare Earth Carbonate (MREC) feedstock to produce approximately 9,000tpa NdPr finished product.
Lynas said if its operating licence was updated to allow the continued import and processing of lanthanide concentrate, it would also undertake maintenance work on the cracking and leaching facility.