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

This post was originally published on this site

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.”