If this news is accurate, I can not express just how disappointed I am in Lynas.
The reason I was adamant that Lynas achieved 11Ktpa capacity in the June quarter was due to recent correspondence I had from Lynas.
"As publicly stated, the company has now produced the full suite of Rare Earths products and the LAMP is ramping up towards achieving targeted Phase 1 nominal capacity of 11,000tpa REO by the June quarter end. This guidance remains intact and should there be any material change to our expectations the company will advise all its shareholders immediately via the ASX and Lynas announcements platform."
In the correspondence, Lynas specifically state "targeted Phase 1 nominal capacity of 11,000tpa REO by the June quarter end". In the recent market update Lynas stated "each of the major stages of the Phase 1 plant – Cracking & Leaching, Solvent Extraction and Product Finishing – has individually been operated at target capacity during the quarter."
And now this:
* CEO says 1st stage capacity of 11,000 T to be hit latest by Dec
* Says project profitable even at current depressed prices
* Lynas, Molycorp hit by funding squeeze, delayed production ramp-ups
But more than two years later it has yet to hit stage 1 capacity of 11,000 tonnes a year, racked by opposition to the project on environmental grounds and by technical problems. Once it reaches that rate, Lynas will be cash flow positive, CEO Amanda Lacaze, who took the role in June, said on Wednesday.
Lacaze does not expect rare earth prices to soar back to the levels they hit in 2011, when some rare earths products were worth more than 10 times they are now, and says Lynas can sell its products for a profit even at current prices.
"Demand is not the thing which is driving our current production profile. A number of our key customers would happily take significantly more product from us than they are doing today," she said. (WTF Does not make sense at all)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/03/lynas-rareearths-idUSL4N0PB0VT20140703
(20min delay)