Rare Earths MMI: Australian Rare Earths Miner Mulls Legal Action Against Malaysian Government

The Rare Earths Monthly Metals Index (MMI) picked up one point, rising for a December MMI reading of 18.
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Lynas Considers Legal Action Against Malaysian Government

In last month’s installment of the Rare Earths MMI, we noted shares of Australian miner Lynas Corporation Limited got a boost on news that the Malaysian government would allow it to continue storing waste materials in the country.
However, this week the miner announced it was considering legal action, among other options, against the Malaysian government, which recently issued a statement regarding conditions for the miner’s license renewal.
According to a Lynas statement, the two conditions for renewal on Sept. 2, 2019, from the Malaysian government are: 1) the export of Water Leach Purification residue before Sept. 2, 2019, and 2) submission of an action plan for the disposal of Neutralization Underflow Residue (NUF) (which has valid approval through Feb. 5, 2019).
As readers know, China overwhelmingly dominates the global rare earths sector; however, Lynas represents the biggest rare earths miner outside of China.

Rare-Earths Elements in Mining Waste?

Given the demand for rare earths, particularly vis-a-vis high-tech applications (e.g. electrical vehicle batteries), every little bit of supply helps.
According to doctoral research cited by phys.org, it may be possible to extract quantities of rare earths from quarried ore.
“The problem is that the minerals we want are hidden in the waste heaps in very small quantities, and we do not have efficient methods for extracting them,” Wenzhong Zhang, a doctoral researcher in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Helsinki, was quoted as saying.
His research focuses primarily on recovery of rare-earths elements, namely scandium, from aluminum.
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Actual Metal Prices and Trends

Yttrium rose 1.3% to $32.68/kilogram, while terbium oxide rose 3.6% to $432.16/kilogram.
Neodymium oxide jumped 2.8% to $45,903.70/mt. Europium oxide was up 1.3% to $42.13/kilogram, while dysprosium oxide rose 9.5% to $180.13/kilogram.

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