Directors Report (page 8) - Financial Position Property, plant...

Directors Report (page 8) - Financial Position
Property, plant and equipment $-211,200.00 difference between 2014 (669.1mil) and 2013 (880.3mil)
Main reason stated: impairment Lamp Phase 1

from the dictionary: impair -> weaken something: to lessen quality, strength, or effectiveness of something

Guess who was the CEO during Phase 1 construction and ramp-up? Maybe it was all a bit too much for him and he decided to concentrate more on self-promotion than construction oversight.
No doubt the new CEO went down the write-down road (FireFly's comment is right on) because any improvement (however small) will be in her favor.

My opinion (I am holding stock but have written it off):
1) I cannot see any substantial improvement in REE pricing
2) because of 1) I fail to see how Lynas can pay back the debt(s) on time
3) if no Takeover in 2nd half of 2015 Administration will be unavoidable

Re Administration: I don't think AL has taken on this job to oversee liquidation - it is more likely that she will try to fix as much as possible and whip LYC into shape as a precursor for a sale (take your pick: NFC Rare-Earth, Baotou Steel Rare-Earth, China Minmetals Rare Earth, Chalco Rare Earth, Guangdong Rising Nonferrous metal and Ganzhou Rare Earth Group,.....)