Ann: Lynas Malaysia Plant to Restart on 4 May 2020, page-36

Lol, you managed to get pretty much everything totally wrong there, as usual.

I'm definitely NOT an accountant, and neither is Gareth Hatch an expert at RE separation, or RE process in general, nor does he have any broad experience in business, let alone the RE business.

Gareth is basically an academic, an expert in magnetics, hell of a nice guy, who I first took to dinner November 2012 after the Metal Events conference in HK and most recently just outside Manchester in November 2017 where he confided in me that IMC had pretty much abandoned RE after failing to progress from the DoD funded trials in 2014/15.

Can't blame him for trying to realise sunk capital five years on now RE's are topical again, and of course the bottom dwellers grasping for any leverage they can find.

If you'd followed the DoD's early trevails you'd know they first flirted with Moly, got taken down the garden path with Ucore, blew their allowance on IMC, and recently reduced to snorting coal ash. Thank goodness Donald sorted them out MAGA.

But what's the big deal about a basic separation process anyway, probably the LEAST important part of the total process when you consider tolling is available in Asia & EU ~$2.50kg with zero CapEx, it is NOT the critical part of RE economics.

Are you capable of even putting separation in context re resource development, concentration, C&L, finishing & mkt development, either in terms of CapEx or OpEx?

"RapidSX" is totally unproven in ANY commercial sense whatsoever, after extensive DoD funded trials 2014/15 it progressed no further, beyond a rather humorous panel session with Patrick Wong hosted by Tracy the Terrible.

Do you seriously think Lynas, having produced SEG/HRE for SEVEN years, with the resources at their disposal, incl Rhodia/Solvay & Japanese, have not investigated the most cost effective means of separation?

Pigs may fly...............