JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Rare earths miner Lynas increased its revenue by 25% in the June quarter, owing to a signifant improvement in sales volumes and production.

The ASX-listed miner sold a record 3 806 t of rare-earth oxide (REO) in the fourth quarter, generating revenue of A$55.9-million tonnes, compared with 2 9 35 t of REO in the third quarter and revenue of A$44.5-million tonnes.

CEO Amanda Lacaze points out in the company’s quarterly report, published on Monday, that the June quarter’s sales volumes are close to 50% of the total sales volume in the previous quarter.

“This was achieved despite the decision to stockpile our heavy rare-earths mix, which reduced sales volumes by around 150 t this quarter,” she said.

For the financial year ended June, Lynas sold 12 513 t of REO for A$196.1-million in revenue, which is an improvement on 2015’s sales volumes of 7 883 t of REO for revenue of A$148.6-million.

The company produced 3 727 t of REO in the fourth quarter, compared with 2 567 t of REO in the third quarter, bringing production for the 2016 financial year to 12 630 t of REO, compared with 8 799 t in 2015 and 3 965 t in 2014.

Neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) production was 1 150 t in the June quarter, up from 846 t in the previous quarter, with total NdPr production for the year being 3 897 t, compared with 2 258 t in 2015.

“This significant production growth and operational improvement caps off a two-year trend of positive improvements in the production process, throughput rates and quality of final output,” said Lacaze.

Lynas, which increased its NdPr capacity from a two-train to a four-train operation in the past two years, said it produced 400 t of NdPr in each of May and June. The company stated that production would stabilise at around this level over the next six months and that it planned to conduct some minor debottlenecking prior to increasing production to full design rates.

Meanwhile, the business maintained a strict focus on cost management, which resulted in production and administration related cash expenses being kept below the forecast.

Overhead and administration cash costs dropped quarter-on-quarter to A$5.8-million, down from A$8.1-million in the previous quarter. “This was a particularly pleasing outcome given the increase in sales through this quarter, resulting in a more favourable cost per kilo ratio,” Lacaze pointed out.

Production costs, including royalties, totalled A$42.9-million for the quarter, up from A$442.5-million in the previous quarter. This reflected good payment, term management and improved efficiencies after the start-up of Lynas’s SX5 Train 4 in the previous quarter.

Capital expenditure was below expectation at A$1.1-million, compared with A$3-million in the previous quarter.