PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Rare earths miner Lynas has reported record neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) and rare-earth oxide (REO) production for the June quarter, with further increases planned for the September quarter.

The ASX-listed company on Friday reported REO production of 4 804 t, up 17% on the previous quarter’s 4 110 t, while NdPr production increased to a record 1 447 t, up 8.6% on the 1 332 t produced in the March quarter.

Lynas told shareholders that production exceeded design rates across the quarter, and the target NdPr production of 500 t/m was achieved during two of the three months.

Production in the month of May was adversely affected by external water supply issues over a 14-day period, with Lynas saying that the company was now investigating a third water storage pond at the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) in order to reduce the impact of any water supply issues in future.

Construction will be completed at the end of the 2018 calendar year.

The upgrades to LAMP are expected to increase production volumes in the September quarter.

Meanwhile, Lynas on Friday said that the NEXT commissioning remains on track, with further expenditure planned for the September quarter.

Lynas in the December quarter launched a A$35-million investment into its NEXT programme, which is aimed at enhancing its capacity to meet current and future demand. The NEXT project will improve plant reliability and recoveries, increase production, deliver a higher value product mix and increase customer engagement.

At its completion, production of NdPr will increase to a sustainable 600 t/m. In addition, new separation and processing capability will deliver a broader and more differentiated product range allowing Lynas to participate in expanded and higher value segments.

NEXT work completed at LAMP during the June quarter included the replacement of the concentrate pipe conveyor, upgrades to the residue and water treatment circuits, leach neutralization circuits and product finishing processing circuits, as well as the commissioning of the new solvent extraction circuit to separate lanthanum and cerium.

NEXT work was also undertaken at the Mt Weld operation, in Western Australia, including starting construction of the third tailings storage facility, which will be completed next quarter.

Due to the construction activities, the mining campaign at Mt Weld has been suspended and the contractors will be used on activities relating to the storage facility construction. The campaign will restart when the earthworks are completed.

Meanwhile, sales volumes in the fourth quarter reached 4 312 t of REOs, generating A$91.7-million in revenues. This was up from the 4 375 t sold in the previous quarter for revenues of A$85.9-million.