Lynas Rare Earths receives a US$9M investment from State-owned Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOGMEC) and Japanese trading house Sojitz Corp to support the Australian miner’s expansion plans.

Back in August, Lynas announced intentions to invest US$335.35M to boost its operation capacity in order to meet the growing market demand for REEs. Outside of China the main REE supply sources have been limited to a few mine-to-refine supply chains. The largest is through Japan-backed Lynas, which mines REEs at the Mount Weld deposit in Western Australia. The REE concentrate from Mount Weld are refined at the company’s LAMP facility in Malaysia, the world’s largest refinery outside China, and from here the separated REEs (mainly LREEs) end up largely in Japan. Lynas’ relationship with its Japanese backers began in 2011, when JOGMEC and Sojitz provided US$250M in loans and equities to the company, securing ex-China rare earth supply. As part of its commitment to deliver REEs to Japanese customers, Lynas and its Japanese investors later agreed to a 10-year loan extension in 2019.

In terms of REE resources, Japan is considered REE-poor, with no significant deposits located in-country. However, the Japanese Government has compensated for this disparity through implementing several measures and initiatives to meet supply chain needs, including a US$1.25Bn integrated policy aimed at preventing future supply disruptions. With the help of JOGMEC, Sojitz, Toyota Tsusho and others, Japan has been investing in potential sites around the world. To further support Japanese resource developers, the government is also looking at strengthening cooperation with other members of the Quad -- Australia, India, and the USA. Japan has also invested in research and development to come up with alternatives and other projects that involve recycling REEs.

Lynas is also working on a US-backed project to separate rare earths at a facility to be built in Texas, USA. Feedstock for the plant is earmarked to come from the company’s Kalgoorlie plant, planned for completion in 2025. With growing plans and political drive in ex-China rare earths supply chains underway in all major economies, will the USA, EU and Japan start to compete against each other for feed? All while China itself is also happy to invest in international mineral deposits.