Magnetmakers have known they can make magnets using blends NdPr and DyTb, and have been doing so for many years, but each separation gives the miner/refiner more flexibility to address other markets that cannot use blends, like the optics and ceramics dye businesses, and those customers have no choice but to pay the premium for the separation. Lynas isn't doing it for nothing - they are getting paid. And the specs are tight enough that variation in blends based on ore differences can confuse production.
Better spec magnets are made from separated metals.
imho, the most notable blend is not NdPr but DyFe (min 80% Dy), which is an invention that China came up with that addressed their inability to fully purify Dy given the high iron in the ore feed. It became unnecessary and expensive to purify further for their magnet industry. But again, there are numerous customers who need pure Dy. Dy is quite useful.
Lynas is not over-separating imho.
LYC Price at posting:
$9.28 Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
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