A visit to LAMP...

After being a Lynas investor for many years and patiently waiting for the right opportunity I was finally invited to visit the LAMP in Malaysia. Lynas seldom conducts tours of the Kuantan facility due to the disruption of normal work routines, security and other logistical issues. After touring the LAMP I can see the reasoning for this, there are many moving parts and heavy equipment operating within LAMP which requires a small group of visitors and close supervision by the Lynas staff...

That being said, I finally made the short list and flew to Malaysia from the US to meet up with Aus and a few other analysts for a look at the operation. Also I had the opportunity to meet Amanda and the remarkable Lynas staff who made themselves readily available throughout the entire visit...

I must admit it was difficult at first to digest all of the different processes occurring within LAMP so I will attempt to relay my impressions of both the LAMP and the current status of Lynas as a company in two parts. Some of this reiterates what Aus has already posted so I hope that I can provide a different perspective and insight into the operation of the LAMP and of Lynas as a whole...

The tour began at the admin building with a quick presentation by Kam Leung (VP of Production) who is the mastermind of the entire operation including Mt. Weld. Kam described how the ore moves through the entire process ending with the finishing and bagging of the final product. The order of the tour itself coincided with actual flow process making it easier to understand.

While the very basics of the operation are somewhat easy to comprehend, the intricate details and science involved each step is at times nothing short of amazing. The amount of IP (intellectual property) that has been accumulated is substantial and the plethora of electrical and mechanical devices, mostly programmed in-house, have automated the processes in virtually all of the systems...

The process itself begins with the mining and concentration or the ore at Mt.Weld. The ore is shipped by sea and arrives at the LAMP in containers. It is then loaded on to a conveyor belt and is crushed and cracked utilizing a small ball mill and sulphuric acid. What results is an RE solution containing most of the RE elements in the periodic chart...

After further chemical treatment and filtration the RE solution is sent to the separation process where the different RE's are processed into the individual elements...

There are presently six or seven circuits utilized in the separation process each of which contain a series of tanks called trains. The trains work by utilizing both an organic solution combined with an aqueous (read water) solution mixed together with the RE slurry. The mixture of this solution is then allowed to settle resulting in a solution much like separated oil and vinegar. During this time the RE's suspended in the mixture tend to associate with either the aqueous solution or the organic solution...

Since the actual separation is much less than a perfect process, this entire process is repeated many times. Each time the organic solution further separates RE's by sending the aqueous solution in one direction and the organic solution in the other direction through the series of consecutive tanks (trains).

Every tank performs the same process resulting in each tank being slightly more pure the preceding tank. The number of these tanks lined up sequentially can vary depending on the level of purification desired and in practice there can be up to 50 tanks or more in each train. For example a four nines purity (99.99%) will require significantly more steps (and tanks) than a lower purity grade of only three nines (99.9%)...

The next step is to precipitate the solutions to extract solid, separated RE's for final drying where the solids are put through a very long tunnel furnace to remove any remaining moisture. The final step is to bag the separated RE's and move them to the product warehouse for shipment to the end user...

This is probably an over simplification of the process and the details involved in each step are numerous as modifications and improvements are added to the systems on a regular basis...