Lynas Rare Earths Ltd. has warned of a potential shortfall equivalent to one month’s production at its Western Australia processing facility due to significant power supply disruptions.
In November, the outage frequency and duration led to significant production losses of mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) at the company’s Kalgoorlie Rare Earths Processing Facility.
Lynas expects the disruptions at Kalgoorlie to affect production of finished goods at its Malaysian facility. The MREC material produced in Kalgoorlie cannot reach the Malaysian facility in time to be processed into finished goods within the quarter.
Lynas explained that the shortfall in MREC feedstock cannot be mitigated by increased production in Malaysia, as the Malaysian kilns are shut down for scheduled maintenance.
The company is working with the Western Australia government and Western Power to determine the causes of the recent outages and options to improve power availability to Kalgoorlie.
However, Lynas does not expect these options to be in place in time to improve this quarter’s forecast production.
Lynas is also assessing off-grid power solutions. Given the option to implement a short-term off-grid power generation solution, the company expects lost production to be recovered within the financial year.
Lynas will still produce sufficient finished product to meet customer needs.
