Wesfarmers (Perth, Australia) says it has made an offer to acquire Lynas (Kuala Lumpur, Malysia), a rare-earth mining company, for $1.1 billion. Wesfarmers states that the proposal is a premium of 44.7% to the last closing price and a premium of 36.4% to Lynas’s 60-day weighted average price. Lynas is listed on the Australian stock exchange.
Wesfarmers says it is “uniquely placed to support Lynas’s future through further capital investment to support downstream processing assets and realize the full potential of the Mount Weld ore body.” According to Lynas, the company’s Mount Weld Central Lanthanide Deposit (CLD) in Western Australia is one of the highest-grade rare-earth deposits in the world. Lynas processes the CLD ore at the Mount Weld concentration plant to produce a rare-earth concentrate that is sent for further processing at the Lynas Advanced Material Plant (LAMP) near Kuantan, Malaysia.
Lynas says that LAMP is one of the largest and most modern rare-earth separation plants in the world. The plant is designed to treat the Mount Weld concentrate and produce separated rare-earth oxide products for sale in locations including Japan, Europe, China, and North America. According to a Reuters report, the plant faces issues obtaining license renewals due to concerns over waste storage. Lynas announced in November 2018 that it would likely interrupt production of rare-earth elements for the rest of that year.
Rob Scott, managing director at Wesfarmers, says that acquiring Lynas “leverages our unique assets and capabilities, including in chemical processing. We also acknowledge the importance of the LAMP in Malaysia,” he says.
Wesfarmers is a diversified company with a wide range of businesses. Its industrials division consists of chemicals, energy, and fertilizers.
Rare earths have key applications in the electronics, automotive, environmental protection, and petrochemical sectors.
By Kartik Kohli
Source: Chemical Week
3M and Dow have announced they are cutting thousands of roles from their global workforces in response to economic pressures. Dow has said it will cut 2,000 jobs across its global workforce (around 5%) in a bid to save US$1bn in 2023. The company says it will also cut costs by shutting down “select assets”, though it did not note where it would halt operations.
Sweden’s state mining firm has discovered what could be Europe’s largest rare earths deposit, and says it could help the bloc reduce its reliance on imports of minerals needed to manufacture clean technologies and meet climate targets.
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