Lynas Rare Earths Signs Contract for Processing Plant

Lynas Rare Earths has initiated the construction of its Kalgoorlie processing plant in Western Australia, awarding a formative contract to a subsidiary of WestStar Industries for $12 million.

The rare earth processing facility will process the concentrate from the Mt Weld mine to produce carbonate rare earths for export to Lynas Rare Earths' Malaysian plant for further processing.

WestStar's engineering, construction, and contracting business, Alltype Engineering, has been keen to strengthen its strategic plan to deliver major construction projects, and the Lynas contract will support that plan as work begins immediately. Alltype managing director Kelvin Andrijich said the company has been preparing for this moment for months.

"During our fiscal year 2021 strategic plan for 2020, we identified niche market opportunities in the area of rotary kiln and rotating equipment installation," said Andrijich. "It is very pleasing to see the subsequent business case and execution of this strategy 12 months later, resulting in the award of our first rotary kiln installation contract as part of the development of Kalgoorlie's landmark Lynas Rare Earths processing facility."

This rotary kiln will be built 6 meters wide and 110 meters long. The contract will also include fabrication and installation of the discharge end building, dust chute, primary leaching overflow hopper, and installation of pumps, agitators, agitators and electrical instrumentation.

It is rewarding to be recognized for Alltype's expertise in a range of disciplines, and we are pleased that Lynas has recognized the experience and capabilities of our delivery team, as well as Alltype Engineering's self-performing multidisciplinary construction capabilities in the gas, energy, petrochemical, and mineral processing industries," said Andrijich.

The Western Australian Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to construct the Kalgoorlie processing facility and maintain a 30m buffer of native vegetation around the site.

The processing facility in Kalgoorlie is described as a “foundation project” for the Lynas 2025 growth vision, and will process rare earth concentrate from Lynas’ Mt Weld mine near Laverton. The project is expected to be operational by mid-2023 and create up to 500 jobs during construction and over 100 ongoing residential jobs in Kalgoorlie.

Lynas Rare Earths is the only producer of separated rare earths of any size outside of China. The company's rare earth mine at Mount Weld in Western Australia is recognized as one of the highest-grade rare earth mines in the world, and Lynas operates the world's largest single rare earth processing plant in Malaysia. The company's high-quality products include neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) for magnets, lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), and mixed heavy rare earths (SEG).

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