Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Shares in rare earths producer Lynas surged 25% on Thursday after the company announced an expected production increase at its Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (Lamp), in Malaysia.
The ASX-listed company said that production and sales of rare earth oxide products for the March quarter would be higher than the December quarter.
“With one week left in March, I am delighted to say that we expect to report record production and sales volumes for both the month of March and for the March quarter,” said Lynas chairperson Nicholas Curtis.
He noted that while Lamp had been slower to ramp up than anticipated, recent production was beginning to demonstrate a sustainable momentum. Curtis has maintained Lynas’ production target of 11 000 t/y by the June quarter.
In November last year, Lynas received administrative approvals for the Phase 2 Lamp assets, with the company implementing the use of some of the assets, including product finishing units and tunnel furnaces, to optimise its customer product range.
However, a decision to use the additional capacity of 11 000 t/y would be determined by market conditions.
Lynas shares were trading at a high of 22c a share on Thursday, up from an opening price of 19c a share.