lynas talks up proposed wa plant, page-24

There is no chance whatever that I will plan out and cost the relocation of a chemical processing plant in WA. If any of us here can in five minutes, leaning back on a chair can say exactly how feasible it is and ascribe comparative costs then that person's talent is completely wasted here.

So I raised the possibility of relocation as a discussion point. Somewhat academic if operations get underway soon as seems likely. When you consider politicians and interest groups there are scoundrels in every country but places like Malaysia (and a few others) can get particularly thuggish. Hence you need to tread warily and keep a few plan Bs. When it comes to specifics, its not in the realm of impossible to relocate a chemical processing plant. I am an industrial chemist and have worked in complex reaction processing environments. What the relative costs are and how difficult the transfer depends a lot on the actual details. As someone pointed out, the permitting and enviro-studies would be a significant burden on time. REE processing is sophisticated enough that there is an advantage in locating it in a scientifically advanced country. My point simply is that a viable plan B should always be ready at hand. If you know the political dynamics in some asian countries as I do, you will know that it could have got a good deal nastier than what we have seen till now.