Rare earths miner targets US investment to rival Chinese supplies

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The world’s largest non-Chinese rare earths miner is raising more than $500mn to expand operations and target stakes in US magnet makers, as western governments try to curb Beijing’s influence on global supplies of critical minerals.

Australia’s Lynas, which has mines in Western Australia and a refinery in Malaysia, said on Thursday it was raising A$825mn (US$538mn) in equity to grow its stockpiles and capacity and invest in “downstream” magnet makers in Malaysia and the US. Rare earths are used to make permanent magnets in weapons systems, electric vehicles, medical equipment and even bicycle frames.

“We want to be able to participate, either on an operational or a supply or an equity basis in this part of the supply chain,” said Amanda Lacaze, chief executive of Lynas, during an investor call on Thursday.

The US government has been pushing to build up capacity in rare earths mining to counter China, last month buying a stake in Las Vegas-based MP Materials. The company held merger talks with Lynas that fell through last year.

Washington has also set a decade-long price floor for rare earths at nearly double the current market rate. Lacaze said Lynas was engaged in talks with the US, Australian and Japanese governments on price floors and similar actions to help develop a non-Chinese supply chain of rare earths.

Lynas is already the largest rare earths miner outside China, having received Japanese financing over the past decade to develop a supply chain for “light” rare earths, used in making permanent magnets and smartphones.

It also has backing from Australian mining billionaire Gina Rinehart and, in the past year, has expanded into processing “heavy” rare earths, also needed for magnets but less abundant.

“Lynas broke the Chinese monopoly on lights in 2013. This year, in 2025, we broke the Chinese monopoly on heavies,” said Lacaze. 

The Lynas chief cautioned there was still “significant uncertainty” surrounding the future of its Seadrift project to build a US defence department-backed rare earths facility in Texas, due to issues with offtake agreements.

Lynas reported net profit of A$8mn for the year ended June 30, down from A$84.5mn last year, because of production issues and the cost of expansion. Revenue rose 20 per cent to A$556mn.

The fundraising is in the form of a fully underwritten share issue and an additional A$75mn share purchase plan for existing shareholders.