mining predecessor yilgangi gold nl founded 1983 founder nicholas curtis headquarters sydney headquarter is in malaysia lynas malaysia sdn bhd australia area served australia malaysia products rare earth metals website www.lynascorp.com lynas corporation ltd. is an australian rare earths mining company listed on the australian securities exchange as a s & p asx 200 company . 1 it has two major operations a mining and concentration plant at mount weld western australia and a refining facility at kuantan malaysia . 2 contents 1 history 2 mount weld 3 crown deposit 4 lynas advanced materials plant 5 references 6 external links history edit the company was founded in 1983 as yilgangi gold nl . the company took on the lynas name in 1985 . 3 it became publicly listed in 1986 on the asx . in 2001 it sold off its gold division and focused on rare earths . 3 lynas was founded by nicholas curtis a former executive director at macquarie group ltd. 4 mount weld edit mt weld contains one of the largest and highest grade known deposits of rare earths . the deposit is additionally unusual because it contains very low levels of thorium a radioactive contaminant commonly found together with rare earth elements . the combination of large resource high grades and low thorium contamination make it a particularly attractive commercial proposition . the ore produced at mount weld is concentrated onsite and is intended to then be shipped to the lynas advanced materials plant lamp in malaysia for refining . in may 2009 lynas was offered funding of 252 million by the chinese state owned china non ferrous metal mining group co. which would have taken a 51.6 % stake in the company . however the deal was scrapped by australia s foreign investment review board on concern it would threaten supply to non chinese buyers . lynas later raised 450 million in a share sale . 5 in november 2010 it signed an agreement with the japanese rare earths trading company sojitz to export 350 million worth of rare earth minerals from its mine in mount weld . 6 first shipments of concentrate to malaysia have reached the lamp late november 2012 . crown deposit edit in april 2011 lynas was attempting to sell its crown polymetallic deposit which is particularly prospective for niobium at mount weld to forge resources . forge a company listed on the asx also shares the one and only common director and ceo of lynas nicholas curtis although former lynas executive director harry wang is also involved with forge and the transaction . in a 2007 company presentation lynas claimed that the crown deposit was worth 50 billion 7 but have valued it at 20.7 million for sale to forge . curtis as a director of forge would receive a 24 000 000 performance shares if the deal between lynas and forge proceeds . certain commentators and journalists have called into question the regulatory oversight of the australian securities and investment commission asic as to the legality of such a proposal but were proven to have been uninformed or alarmist because the proposal was always subject to the approval of independent shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting egm . 8 the egm was cancelled by lynas after shareholder opposition to the proposal became apparent and the crown polymetallic deposit remains owned by lynas . lynas advanced materials plant edit the lynas advance materials plant lamp has been built near kuantan pahang malaysia . this location was chosen due to the site having all the resources required to run the plant at a lower cost than originally approved in western australia . in addition the malaysian government granted the company pioneer status and offered it a 12 year tax exemption . the lamp commenced operations in 2012 . kuantan mp fuziah salleh has been raising her concerns over the risks of having a rare earth processing plant near kuantan in the parliament of malaysia since 18 november 2008 . 9 a civil society group concerned citizens of kuantan was formed in december 2008 after a meeting held by fuziah to meet with about twenty residents and professionals from different ethnic groups and ngos in kuantan to discuss their concerns . 10 in early march 2011 an article published in the new york times raised the public awareness concerning the lamp . 11 12 since then the kuantan community group protesting against the lamp led by kuantan mp fuziah salleh has gradually evolved into a bigger group i.e. save malaysia stop lynas smsl . the group is currently led by bentong parliamentary candidate wong tack . 13 on 5 september 2012 lynas malaysia sdn bhd was awarded a temporary operating licence by malaysia s atomic energy licensing board for a period of two years . despite concerns about the plant and its alleged lack of a proper long term disposal plan for its waste a two year temporary licence was issued . 14 on 19 december 2012 the malaysian court of appeal dismissed an appeal by save malaysia stop lynas group against a temporary operating licence granted to lynas with costs in favour of lynas . 15 the refining facility entered production in 2013 producing 1 089 tonnes of rare earth oxides in the first quarter of 2014 with a target of 11 000 tonnes per annum . 16 on 2 september 2014 lynas was issued a 2 year full operating stage license fosl by the malaysian atomic energy licensing board aelb 17 references edit s & p asx 200 constituent list . standard and poors . retrieved 19 november 2008 . bradsher keith 8 march 2011 . taking a risk for rare earths . the new york times . retrieved 3 november 2011 . a b lynas corporation limited lyc company overview investsmart.com 2011 06 30 . lee yoolim 31 may 2011 . malaysia rare earths in largest would be refinery incite protest . bloomberg markets magazine . retrieved 3 november 2011 . australia blocked china investment on supply concerns . sydney morning herald . 2011 02 15 . tabuchi hiroko 24 november 2010 . japanese firm in rare earths deal with australian miner . the new york times . retrieved 3 november 2011 . business news economy finance & asx market news . retrieved 20 june 2016 . west michael 16 april 2011 . not just another crackdown . the sydney morning herald . retrieved 3 november 2011 . teks ucapan perbahasan peringkat jawatankuasa kementerian sumber asli dan alam sekitar . 19 november 2008 . retrieved 20 june 2016 . december 2008 . retrieved 20 june 2016 . taking a risk for rare earths . the new york times . 9 march 2011 . retrieved 20 june 2016 . a refinery rises in malaysia http www.themalaysianinsider.com malaysia article kuantan city folk to lead anti lynas plant movement http thestar.com.my news story.asp sec nation & file 2012 9 5 nation 20120905162349 lynas wins latest court case . aap . 19 december 2012 . elizabeth redman 2014 04 01 . lynas soars on record production . business spectator . ng eileen 2 september 2014 . lynas gets full operating licence before tol expiry date . the malaysian insider . retrieved 3 september 2014 . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title lynas & oldid 741783252 categories mining companies of australiamining in malaysiacompanies based in sydneycompanies established in 19831983 establishments in australiacompanies listed on the australian securities exchangerare earth companieshidden categories use australian english from september 2014all wikipedia articles written in australian englishuse dmy dates from march 2011pages using infobox company with unsupported parameters navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a 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