Australia shares drop on virus worries, miners drag

Shares in Australian rare earths miner Lynas Corp jumped 12 percent on Friday after Malaysia's prime minister downplayed the roles of two Lynas critics.

The agreed price serves as an industry benchmark for supplies of seaborne thermal coal in Asia.

With this development, the Australian miner has now produced both lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide from Paradox, its flagship project.

Mining at the project in the Pacific nation will start in December, with ore shipments expected to begin in the first quarter of next year.

The definitive agreement comes almost three years after the incident, which killed 19 people and became the country’s worst ever environmental disaster.

The mine was the third largest zinc mine in the world prior to its closure in 2016.

The newly-elected coalition government is said to be ready to launch a three-month evaluation of Lynas' rare earths processing plant, which may end with authorities denying the company’s operating license renewal in Sep. 2019.

The company said the investment would enable it to sustain production of its Pilbara Blend brand of iron ore and its Robe Valley lump and fines products.

It sold for more than $2.9 million.