Pentagon, Lynas sign contract to kick off design work for U.S. rare earths facility

(Reuters) – Rare earth producer Lynas Corp (AX:) said on Monday it signed a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense to begin initial design work for its heavy rare earth separation facility in Texas that the Pentagon is providing initial funding for.

The ‘Phase 1′ funding forms part of a concerted effort by Washington to reduce the United States’ reliance on China as the world’s largest producer of the strategic minerals used to make missiles, cell phones to a ranger of other high-tech equipment.

Lynas, the largest rare earth producer outside China, expects to finish the planning and design work for the facility in fiscal 2021.

The facility will process heavy rare earths sourced from Lynas’ flagship Mt Weld mine in Western Australia, which the company says will then become the “only source of separated Heavy Rare Earths outside China.”

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.