The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Kalgoorlie rare earth separation plant slated for 2023 start Metal Tech News – August 26, 2020
Lynas Corp.'s planned Kalgoorlie separation plant will process rare earth concentrates from the company's Mt Weld Mine in Australia. Clockwise from top center: praseodymium, cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, samarium, and gadolinium.
Lynas Corporation Ltd. Aug. 21 announced the signing of a sublease with the City of Kalgoorlie Boulder for a 135-hectare industrial-zoned site for its planned Kalgoorlie rare earth processing facility in Western Australia.
"Securing the sub-lease for our new Kalgoorlie rare earth processing facility is another important milestone for our Kalgoorlie project and we thank the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder and the Western Australian Government for their strong support," said Lynas Corp CEO Amanda Lacaze.
Lynas' planned Australian rare earth processing facility will process rare earth concentrates from the company's Mt Weld mine about 245 kilometers (150 miles) northwest of Kalgoorlie.
Lynas is currently the only company outside of China with a facility capable of separating the 17 tightly interlocked rare earths into individual elements used in high-tech devices such as smartphones and electric vehicles.
The company, however, ships the rare earth concentrates mined in Australia to its plant in Malaysia for this value-added processing.
The Kalgoorlie facility, part of the Lynas 2025 growth vision, is expected to begin separating these rare earths in Australia by mid-2023.
Lynas said the building of the Kalgoorlie plant is expected to create up to 500 jobs and the plant is expected to employ roughly 100 employees once operational.
"It is our intention to have a residential workforce and we will prioritize local and mid-sized suppliers during the construction of the facility," said Lacaze.
Construction of the rare earths processing plant is expected to begin in mid-2021.
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