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Events/Company founded · 2011

Lynas starts Mount Weld concentrate production

Company founded, 2011, Australia.

What happened

Lynas began producing rare earth concentrates at its Mount Weld carbonatite complex in Western Australia in 2011, USGS says. Shipments were delayed until 2013 while the processing plant in Malaysia was commissioned.1,2

Why it matters

Mount Weld was the main new rare earth source outside China after the 2010 export quota cuts.1,2

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Mountain Pass mining stops

    The pause left China with over 90 percent of world rare earth production in the years that followed.1,3

  2. China cuts rare earth export quota

    USGS says rare earth product prices rose sharply in 2010 after the drop in exports.1,4,5

  3. Lynas starts Mount Weld concentrate production

    Mount Weld was the main new rare earth source outside China after the 2010 export quota cuts.1,2

  4. Molycorp commissions new Mountain Pass operations

    From 2012 to 2015 the US was a leading producer of rare earths outside China.1,3

  5. WTO dispute over China's rare earth export restrictions

    The case tested export controls on critical minerals.6,7

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Where next

Mines

Located inMount WeldSee the mine at the heart of this story: Mount Weld.1

Events

Came out ofChina cuts rare earth export quotaMount Weld was the main new rare earth source outside China after the 2010 quota cuts.1

Places

Located inLavertonSee the nearby place: Laverton.1

Sources

  1. Rare-Earth Elements, Professional Paper 1802-O US Geological Survey
  2. Mount Weld Mine (item Q1950809), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  3. Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine (item Q4285560), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  4. China's Rare-Earth Industry, OFR 2011-1042 US Geological Survey
  5. Beijing (item Q956), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  6. DS431 China: measures related to the exportation of rare earths, tungsten and molybdenum World Trade Organization
  7. Geneva (item Q71), coordinate location P625 Wikidata

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Pictures: Salar de Atacama, Chile, NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)); Pangkalpinang. Mijn 3b. Een reeks koelies bezig met het transporteeren van grond, Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0).