From the dry western edge of the
Gibson Desert to the lush east coast
of Malaysia, Lynas Corporation is
creating a new, environmentally
sustainable mine-to-market supply
chain for rare earth products.
Rare earths are essential for a raft
of energy efficient products such
as hybrid cars, catalytic converters,
compact fluorescent lighting and
wind turbines, as well as must have
consumer and business products such as smart phones, tablet
computers and flat screen monitors.
“
Lynas is committed to becoming the benchmark for the
security of supply and environmental standards in the global
rare earths industry,” says chairman and company founder
Nicholas Curtis.
The foundation of this strategy is Mount Weld in WA, where
Lynas has one of the richest known deposits of rare earths in the
world, and the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant, a state-of-the-
art processing plant located in the Gebeng Industrial Park near
Kuantan, Malaysia.
The Mount Weld deposit sits in a two billion year-old volcanic
plug, located about 35 kilometres south-east of Laverton. It hosts
two rare earths and metals deposits and a phosphate deposit. The
highest concentration of rare earths is the Central Lanthanide
deposit, currently an open pit to a depth of 51 metres.
The Mount Weld Phase 1 concentrator was designed to process
120,000
tonnes per annum (tpa) of ore to produce approximately
33,000
tpa of concentrate. Commissioned in May 2011, it includes
a ball mill, flotation and dewatering circuits producing a bulk
concentrate of approximately 40% rare earth oxide.
“
Phase 1 was a particularly challenging commissioning. The
scale-up of a new rare earths concentration process really tested
our team,” says Kam Leung, General Manager Western Australia
for Lynas.
“
Although simple on paper, the flotation process is very
sensitive to both water quality and water addition, and the
materials handling and dewatering is on the extreme limit of what
has been seen in the industry.”
The learning from Phase 1 incorporated into the Phase 2
design was reflected in its commissioning (April 2013) when the
plant operated in excess of 90% of design capacity during the
first fortnight.
“
The project was brought in on time and within budget and
was a great team effort with our partners Forge Group, who were
also responsible for the Phase 1 construction,” Mr Leung says,
adding: “Our commitment to quality is reflected in the attainment
of ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certification within
18
months of commissioning Phase 1”.
During the first year of operation, the concentrator operated on
a two-panel roster (8 days on; 6 days off) and produced a stockpile
of concentrate ahead of the start up of the Lynas Advanced
Materials Plant (LAMP) scheduled for December 2013.
At the LAMP, the concentrate is mixed with concentrated
sulphuric acid and cracked at a high temperature in a rotary kiln
to convert phosphate minerals to a sulphate which is then leached
to remove impurities. Solvent extraction is used to separate the
rare earths which are then precipitated as a range of rare earth
products, some of which are calcined to produce rare earth oxides.
Kam Leung
General Manager
Western Australia
Lynas Corporation Ltd
Working inside the Mt Weld open pit
Technician inspecting one of the rotary kilns at
Lynas Advanced Materials Plant, Gebeng, Malaysia
for Lynas’ rare earth
Mine-to-marketvision
Minesite 2013
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