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Lynas Rare Earths said on Wednesday it won a A$20 million ($13.5 million) government grant to develop a new leach circuit project to process apatite-rich ore at its Mt Weld site in Western Australia.
Lynas, the world’s biggest producer of rare earth metals outside China, said the grant will help develop a new system containing two circuits that will allow the processing of apatite, a group of phosphate minerals, in large quantities.
The new circuits could also increase recoveries of rare earth elements praseodymium, neodymium and dysprosium from the apatite-rich ore body at Mt Weld, Lynas said.
These rare earths are used in a range of industries, including automobiles and renewable energy.
“In addition to supporting the development of industry capability, the processing of apatite-rich ore will help to unlock additional value from the Mt Weld ore body with the goal of extending the operating life of both the mine at Mt Weld and the Lynas rare earths processing facility in Kalgoorlie,” chief executive officer Amanda Lacaze said in a statement.
The process, developed in collaboration with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, is expected to create 90 jobs during the project, the rare earth producer said.
The project comes under the Mt Weld expansion plan, and is likely to be completed by the end of 2024, it added.
($1 = 1.4786 Australian dollars)
(By Ayushman Ojha; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
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