Lynas 10-year extension

Malaysia has given Lynas a 10-year licence extension to keep processing rare earths at its Gebeng plant, locking in operations there until March 2, 2036. (bernama.com) The approval took effect on March 3, 2026, after what Malaysia’s Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry said were technical checks, legal compliance reviews and consideration of “national strategic interests.” (bernama.com) Lynas runs a 100-hectare advanced materials plant in the Gebeng Industrial Estate near Kuantan, where concentrate from Western Australia is chemically separated into rare-earth products sold to customers in East Asia, the United States and Europe. (lynasrareearths.com) At the plant this month, workers were loading bags of neodymium-praseodymium, or NdPr, a magnet material that sells for about US$100,000, roughly RM395,534, per bag. The bags are trucked to Port Klang and shipped to Japan for conversion into metal powders used in electronics, aerospace and other advanced manufacturing. (malaymail.com) Rare earths are a group of 17 metals used in permanent magnets, which are the compact, high-strength components inside electric-vehicle motors, wind turbines, phones and some military systems. Lynas says the Gebeng plant now handles 11 of those 17 elements. (malaymail.com) The Malaysia site has been operating since 2012 and is now the world’s largest single rare-earths processing plant, according to AFP’s April 22 report from inside the refinery. Malaysia is also the largest commercial producer of separated rare earths outside China, according to a March 19 report on Lynas’s latest output expansion. (malaymail.com 1) (malaymail.com 2) The licence renewal came with tighter conditions after years of scrutiny over waste from the refining process. Malaysia said Lynas must stop producing new Water Leach Purification residue, the byproduct classified as radioactive under the licence terms, by 2031. (thestar.com.my) (bernama.com) The government also said there will be no new permanent disposal facility for that residue beyond the one already under construction, and existing waste generated in the first five years must be treated to below 1 becquerel per gram. Minister Chang Lih Kang said the disposal facility already being built was about 75% complete and due to be finished by the end of 2026. (thestar.com.my) Lynas has been widening the plant’s product slate as governments and manufacturers look for supply outside China. In March, the company said it had produced its first samarium oxide ahead of schedule, adding to recent output of dysprosium and terbium at Gebeng. (malaymail.com) (lynasrareearths.com) AFP reported on April 22 that Lynas holds about 10% of the global rare-earths market, with China accounting for the other 90%. That leaves the Gebeng refinery carrying more of the supply chain for magnets and power electronics as countries try to diversify sourcing. (malaymail.com)