Lynas signs lease for Kalgoorlie facility

Lynas Corporation has moved one step closer to building its onshore rare earth processing facility, announcing it will lease 135 hectares of industrial-zoned land from the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

That comes after Lynas launched a $425 million raising last Monday to help fund the proposed development, which will be located along the Great Eastern Highway.

The Malaysia-based miner currently exports rare earths for overseas processing, with the new onshore facility likely to cost about $500 million to construct.

Commenting on the news this morning, Lynas chief executive and managing director Amanda Lacaze called the signing of the sub-lease an important milestone for the project.

“This is a significant project for Kalgoorlie and for the state of Western Australia and it will provide the foundation for a critical minerals processing hub in the Goldfields region of Western Australia,” she said.

Ms Lacaze said Lynas intended to have a residential workforce and would preference local and mid-sized suppliers during the construction phase.

Construction of the facility is expected to commence by the middle of 2021 and completed two years later, subject to approvals.

Lynas shares were trading at $2.51/share as of 12pm.