Rare-earths miner Lynas jumps as Malaysia allows key plant extension
By Rishav Chatterjee
Oct 25 (Reuters) -Shares of Lynas Rare Earths LYC.AX hit their highest in over a month on Wednesday, extending gains, after Malaysia allowed the miner to operate its flagship refinery locally with a variation to the operating licence.
Shares jumped as much as 5.6% to A$7.2 as of 0229 GMT, hitting highest since Sept. 19 and putting the company on track to sit among the top 10 gainers in the ASX 200 benchmark index .AXJO.
The government of Malaysia said on Tuesday it will allow Lynas Malaysia, which has been operating in central Pahang state since 2012, to import raw materials containing natural radioactive material and process rare earths until March 2026 after a long-running regulatory battle.
The licence extension comes despite concerns raised in recent years by Malaysia regarding radiation levels from the cracking and leaching operations during raw material processing.
Science and technology minister Chang Lih Kang said Lynas will be allowed to import radioactive material and continue processing rare earths, provided the firm carries out thorium extraction to remove radioactive waste.
"Lynas has de-bottlenecked its cracking and leaching following the licence update", while eyeing multiple opportunities to further improve production, analysts at Macquarie said.
The brokerage also lifted its price target on the biggest rare earths miner outside of China by 3% to A$7.70 and upgraded the earnings outlook for a near-term period.
Lynas' Malaysia refinery, its first outside China, has been embroiled in a radiation dispute at the plant with Lynas challenging an earlier ruling that would have halted operations.
In a statement on Tuesday, Lynas said the change to its licence will allow its Malaysian facility to continue to import and process lanthanide concentrate from its mine in Western Australia.
Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
